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foliage with such magical rapidity, and every 

 succeeding morning opens with such agree- 

 able accessions of feathered songsters to swell 

 the chorus their plumage as gay and un- 

 impaired as when they enlivened the deep- 

 green forests of tropical climes, that the 

 return of a northern spring excites in the 

 mind a deep feeling of the beauties of the 



season, a sense of the bounty and providence 

 of the Supreme Being, which is cheaply pur- 

 chased by the tedium of nine months of 

 winter. The most verdant lawns and culti- 

 vated glades of Europe, the most beautiful 

 productions of art, fail in producing that 

 exhilaration and joyous buoyancy of mind 

 which we have experienced in treading the 

 wilds of Arctic America, when their snowy 

 covering has been just replaced by an infant 

 but vigorous vegetation. It is impossible 

 for the traveller to refrain, at such momenta, 

 from joining his aspirations to the song 

 which every creature around is pouring forth 

 to the great Creator." 



The RIXG THRUSH. (Turdus torqtiatua.) 

 This species is migratory, and is found 

 throughout the greatest part of Europe, Asia, 



and Africa. It is eleven inches in length : 

 the beak is partly orange-yellow : the whole 

 upper part of the plumage is black, with 



scarcely any gray on the margins of the fea- 

 thers ; the quills and wing-coverts dusky, 

 bordered with pale gray : a gorget of pure 

 white : under wing-coverts pale brown, with 

 broad gray margins : legs dusky brown. It 

 breeds in Wales and many of the mountain- 

 ous parts of Britain and Ireland ; and it is 

 very abundant in the isle of Portland, upon 

 their arrival and departure, every spring 

 and autumn. Its nest is generally placed 

 on the ground, under some small bush : it is 

 formed like that of the Blackbird ; and the 

 eggs in size and colour are very like that 

 bird's. During the breeding season it is a 

 rare occurrence to observe a second pair in 

 the same neighbourhood. When they have 

 young, they are very clamorous if disturbed. 

 Their food consists of snails, insects, and 

 berries, particularly those of the juniper. 



The WATER THRUSH. (Seiurus aquaticus.) 

 This bird, which is called in America a 

 Thrush, belongs, however, to a different 

 sub-family, but may be described here : it 

 is remarkable for its partiality to brooks, 

 rivers, shores, and ponds ; wading in the 

 sluillows in search of aquatic insects, chatter- 



ing as it flies. It is only about six inches 

 in length : the whole upper parts are of a 

 uniform and very dark olive, with a line 

 of white extending over the eye, and along 

 the sides of the neck ; the lower parts are 

 white, tinged with an ochreous yellow ; the 

 breast and sides marked with pointed spot* 

 or streaks of block or deep brown : bill { 

 brown : legs flesh-colour. Wilson remarks 

 that the cane-brakes, swamps, river shores, , 

 and deep watery solitudes of Louisiana, Ten- 

 nessee, and the Mississippi territory, p(MM 

 them in abundance ; there they arc emi- 

 nently distinguished by the loudness, sweet- 

 ness, and expressive variety of their notes, 

 which begin very high and clear, falling 

 with an almost imperceptible gradation till 

 they are scarcely articulated. At these times 

 the musician is perched on the middle 

 branches of a tree over the brook or river 

 bank, pouring out its charming melody, that 

 may be distinctly heard for nearly half a 

 mile. The voice of this little bird, says he, 

 appeared so exquisitely sweet and expressive 

 that I was never tired of listening to it, while 

 traversing the deep shaded hollows of those . 

 cane-brakes where it usually resorts. 



We can afford no more space for the de- 

 scription of other species j but may remark 

 that there are foreign species of this exten- 

 sive genus intermediate, in every possible 

 way, to all those of Europe. In a group in- 

 habiting Australia, the Indian Archipelago, 

 and slopes of the Asiatic mountains, the 

 dorsal plumage is mottled at all ages; a 

 character peculiar to the nestling dresses of 

 the other*. One species belonging to it ( Tur- 

 <lus \Vhitii) the largest of all the Thrushes, 

 resembles the Missel Thrush in its form and 

 proportions, and occasionally strays to the 

 west of Europe, having been met with even 

 in Britain. Other Thrushes, peculiar to 

 America, and breeding in the northern divi- 

 sion of that continent, arc solitary in habit, 

 and successively diminish in size ; having 

 the bill weaker and tarsi more elongated, 

 assuming the russet tint of the Nightingale, 

 and gradually losing the breast-spots, &c. 

 In short, the Thrushes form a great centre 

 of radiation, which ramifies in every direc- 

 tion, till the normal generic features din- , 

 appear. 



THYLACINUS. A genus of Marsupial 

 animals. The Thijlacines are distinguished 

 from the Opossums by the hind feet having 

 no thumb, by a hairy and not prehensile 

 tail, and two incisors less to each jaw. There j 

 is only one existing species known, a native 

 of Australia. It is smaller than a wolf, and 

 lower on the legs; of a graybh colour, barred I 

 with block across its hinder limbs ; is very j 

 carnivorous, and pursues all small quadru- 

 peds. It is principally nocturnal in its 

 habits ; and in its native island (Van Die- 

 men's Land) it is called both Tiger and 

 Uycena. 



THYMALLUS. [See GRAYLISO.] 



THYMELE. A genus of Diurnal Lepi- 

 doptera belonging to the family ffefperiaate, 

 or "Skippers" as they are called in this 

 country. Of the British species we may par- 



