208 The Thrush. 



note being rivalled only by that of the nightingale, 

 and we must admit that, in our opinion, there is 

 little to choose between them. Of the birds that 

 remain with us throughout the year the thrush is, 

 at all events, facile princeps, and, in addition to its 

 other good qualities, it has in its favour the fact 

 that, while beginning to sing earlier in the year 

 than most birds, it continues in full song 

 throughout the summer, and often sings again 

 in the autumn after its moult, long after the 

 generality of birds have become silent. It is also 

 apparently untirable, beginning its song with the 

 dawn and ending only with darkness ; so late, 

 indeed, will it sing that we have often late in the 

 evening been called out, in most impossible places, 

 to hear a nightingale, only to find, as we supposed 

 would be the case, that a belated thrush was in full 

 song. 



Unlike most birds we speak of songsters as 

 distinguished from birds having merely a call note 

 the thrush has a song which can be translated 

 into words, nonsensical, no doubt, but nevertheless 

 conveying the song most exactly in fact, to quote 

 the late Frank Buckland, the bird does actually 

 sing the following words: "Knee deep, knee 

 deep, knee deep ; cherry du, cherry du, cherry du, 

 cherry du ; white hat, white hat; pretty joey, 

 pretty joey, pretty joey." 



Thrushes are without doubt most destructive to 

 small fruit when ripe, but the damage they do to 

 the gardener in this way is more than compensated 



