262 IN A GLOUCESTERSHIRE GARDEN 



his work. And the thrush is, I believe, almost the 

 only wild bird that does us this good service ; ducks 

 will eat a large quantity, but do mischief in finding 

 them; and I know of no other bird that eats slugs, 

 though hedgehogs eat them, and the shrewmouse and 

 the slow-worm are said to catch and eat many. 



With the thrush, especially under his old names of 

 ' the throstle, with his note so true,' who 



' By breaking of the day 

 Chants to his sweet full many a lovely lay ' ; 



or 'the mavis, that sings sweetly in the bush,' we 

 always associate the blackbird : 



' The ouzel cock, so black of hue, 

 With orange-tawny bill.' 



They are closely connected: they are both lovers of 

 gardens ; they are both great robbers of strawberries, 

 cherries, and, indeed, of all fruit that they can get at, 

 but I claim for both of them that they earn much of 

 what they rob by their constant destruction of insects 

 and caterpillars, and both of them fully pay for the 

 fruit they take from us by their unwearied power and 

 beauty of song. But I have never seen the blackbird 

 eating snails as the thrushes do, nor have I ever seen 

 the starlings, though they are said to eat them; but 

 the quantity of worms and insects that the starlings 

 destroy must be very large, and they are beautiful 



