THE SONG-THRUSH. 27 



we hear a dozen or more in one small shrubbery, singing 

 their best, the effect is lovely in the extreme, and totally 

 beyond the art of the most graphic pen to describe. In 

 the evening, too, they just as numerous, and sing equally 

 as well ; every tree-top has its Thrush, pouring forth a 

 requiem to the parting day, and the still evening air 

 resounds with their melody. We also often hear them 

 singing' their loudest under a star-spangled sky, or 

 greeting the rising moon with notes of gushing sweetness. 

 The Song-thrush pairs in the latter end of February, 

 sometimes earlier, although the nest is seldom found 

 before the first or second week in March. Even then 

 numbers of the nests finished, or in course of completion, 

 are abandoned if severe weather occurs. The site of the 

 Song-thrush's nest is a varied one. We invariably find 

 the first nests of this bird amongst the perennial 

 branches of the evergreen ; but as the year rolls on, and 

 other trees and shrubs assume their leafy covering, they 

 in turn are used. The whitethorn hedge is a favourite 

 place ; so too is the bottom of the hazel hedgerows ; while 

 we not unfrequently see it far up the branches of the 

 stately trees, and amongst the ivy growing up their trunks. 

 The nest of the Song-thrush generally takes upwards of 

 a week to complete, yet when hard pressed it can be 

 done in a much shorter time ; witness the following 

 instance, among several, coming under my own obser- 

 vation. I found a nest of the Song-thrush in a small 

 yew bush, and in a very exposed situation, which I 

 removed. Three days afterwards I again visited the 

 place, and was surprised to find that the birds had 

 almost completed a fresh nest. I removed this also, and 

 visited the place the following day, when I was still 

 further surprised to find that the little songsters had 

 almost completed a third nest, so attached were the 



