30 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 



SONG THRUSH. 



Turdus musicus ; Merle grive ; Sing Drossel. 

 Throstle ; Mavis ; Grey Bird. 



Bill and feet, brown ; head, neck, and back, olive 

 brown ; chin, throat, and breast, whitish ; the latter 

 spotted with dark brown ; the tail, somewhat rounded. 

 Length, eight inches and a-half. 



The Song Thrush is the best known and most widely 

 distributed of the thrush kind, and is probably the most 

 popular songster in Ireland, the Skylark hardly ex- 

 cepted. Everyone knows the song of the Thrush, or 

 thinks he does, for many cannot distinguish between it 

 and the song of the Blackbird, although they are so 

 widely different. Gay, tuneful, hardy, and harmless, the 

 Song Thrush is justly a favourite everywhere ; and the 

 occasional damage he may do by eating a few currants 

 or raspberries in the summer is more than repaid by the 

 constant havoc he makes among the snails and slugs 

 and by his delightful voice. 



The Song Thrush is not gregarious, like his brethren 

 the Missel Thrush, the Fieldfare, and the Redwing, for 

 more than two are seldom seen together. In this 

 respect he resembles most his confrere and ally, the 

 Blackbird. 



The snail is the Song Thrush's favourite dish. 

 Whether this diet has a beneficial effect upon his vocal 

 powers, I know not ; but I remember that, when a boy, 

 I often heard that a compound of snails is exceedingly 

 good for a cold. And a French gentleman of my 

 acquaintance told me some years ago that the boys of a 



