SONG-THRUSH. 79 



With glee, with glee, with glee, 



Cheer up, cheer up, cheer up ; here 

 Nothing to harm us; then sing merrily, 

 Sing to the loved one, whose nest is near, 

 Qui, qui, qui, kweeu, quip, 

 Tiurru, tiurru, chipiwi, 

 Too-tee, too-tee, chiu choo, 

 Chirri, chirri, chooee, 

 Quiu, qui, qui." 



This is indeed the " Poetry of nature/' and a marvellous 

 imitation of a song as remarkable for its varied modula- 

 tions, as for its surpassing richness and beauty. The 

 good effected by these birds in the destruction of 

 innumerable snails, worms, insects, &c., might well 

 insure them protection at our hands, independently 

 of their charms both of song and action. How hand- 

 some is the thrush as he appears on our walks or 

 grass-plots, with his rich spotted breast, and neat 

 trim figure, all energy and life. Just venturing from 

 the shelter of some laurel fence, he stands with 

 head erect and slightly turned to listen, now leaps a 

 pace or two and stops, his full bright eyes searching the 

 ground for food ; then with a short quick run he reaches 

 some worm protruding from the ground, extracts him 

 with a jerk, and bolts his prey. How often too in 

 some retired corner of our gardens we find his snailery, 

 if one may be allowed the expression, where, round the 

 stone that serves him for an anvil, are the debris of his 

 feasts, the numerous empty snail shells thus ingeniously 

 broken, proving at once the value of his services in 

 ridding us of these garden pests. In autumn our re- 

 sident thrushes receive very considerable additions to 

 their numbers by migratory flocks from the north,* as 



* Sir Thos. Browne was evidently well acquainted with this 

 fact, as in speaking of our regular spring and autumn migrants, 

 he says "They are observed to come in great flocks, with a 

 north-east wind, and to depart with a south-west; nor to come 



