CHAPTER TWO 



THE THRUSH FAMILY 



American Museum of Natural History 



FIG. 161. A group of thrushes. From left to right : bluebird, veery, and 

 wood thrush. 



THE thrush family is found in all parts of the world 

 and contains several hundred species. No other family 

 of birds surpasses it in the musical ability of its members. 

 .Among European birds the song thrush, the blackbird, 

 the robin redbreast, and the nightingale, all famous as 

 singers, are thrushes. In America the family is repre- 

 sented by the robin, the bluebird, and the true thrushes. 



THE BLUEBIRD 



The Indians were delighted by the return of the blue- 

 bird from the South. To them it meant that spring 

 was near and their long suffering from cold and hunger 

 would soon end. Calendars afford us a more certain 

 means of telling when to expect mild weather, but, never- 

 theless, the first joyous carol from the throat of a blue- 

 bird winging its way northward is a pleasant reminder that 

 the time is near when life will be renewed upon the earth. 



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