THE LEGEND OF OPECHEE 55 



breaking up after matins, each one returning to 

 his family. 



" By and by when the first brood leave the 

 nest, we take them to roost with us at the club, 

 leaving their mothers free to tend the second 

 brood, and when the nesting is over, we all rove 

 together in great flocks, keeping away until 

 the summer moult is over, but coming to your 

 lawn again before the Moon of Falling Leaves." 



"Please, what family do you belong to?" 



"We are of the Silver-tongued, the family 

 of Thrushes." 



" Thrushes? You do not look like the other 

 Thrushes that I know," said Tommy-Anne. "The 

 Wood Thrush that sings every afternoon, beyond 

 the garden, has a brown back and a speckled breast, 

 and the Echo Thrush, in the river woods, is tawny 

 on the back and is marked with little arrow spots 

 under his chin. Your back is dark, and your 

 breast is the same colour as flower pots, and 

 then you sing differently too. Every Robin has 

 a song of his own, but the Thrushes have each 

 one tune that they all keep repeating." 



" It is true that our colour is different from our 

 brothers, but so is that of Owaissa, who is also of 

 our family. We sing strange songs, truly, each 

 one telling his story in his own words, and no one 



