THE THRUSH. 37 



would not willingly pass by the thrush that 

 joyous herald of the joyous spring. In the 

 very dawn of spring he pours forth his sweet 

 and varied strains from the tops of the highest 

 trees. Before the primroses have unfolded their 

 pale blossoms, or the bursting buds begun to 

 tinge the woods with a shade of green, we hear 

 his full clear notes. To us, the continued and 

 far heard song of the early thrush, is associated 

 with our earliest enjoyment of the pure air and 

 sunshine, on the pleasant mornings of spring. In 

 those cheering hours of brightness, which break 

 on us after the clouds and darkness of the winter, 

 fraught with hopeful anticipations and images of 

 coming joy, who is there that has not welcomed 

 the thrush's song with delight? As his animated 

 strains resound through the valley, he seems to 

 call on the other warblers of the grove to rouse 

 from their lethargy, and join their notes of re- 

 joicing with his. 



There are four species of thrush in this coun- 

 try. The song-thrush, the missel-thrush, the red- 

 wing, or wind-thrush, and the fieldfare. The song- 

 thrush is the most common species, both in this 

 country and in France, where it commits great 

 havoc in the vineyards on the approach of the 

 vintage season, by feeding on the ripe grapes. 

 In France it is certainly a migratory bird, quit- 



