136 WILD BIRDS 



short song of seven to ten seconds, the throat feathers 

 would ruffle out like those of thrush or warbler. 

 Finally, when the sharp call-notes and the low melody 

 are over for a while, comes that clear, quick, decided 

 flight of the wagtail ; flight in bold, sweeping 

 bounds, each bound as long as that of the green 

 woodpecker. 



SUMMER THRUSH AND AUTUMN 



I have often felt that the best song of an English 

 bird throughout the season is the first few bars of the 

 earliest autumn thrush. There has seemed to me 

 to be in these random notes a sweetness surpassing 

 even that of the blackbird of March or the willow 

 warbler of April, when the leaf is beginning to green. 

 I heard the song-thrush on October 17. I heard it 

 one year as early as the close of September, but it 

 is about the middle of October one expects it, and 

 this particular bird the early autumn thrush 

 is a fair rather than a foul weather songster. The 

 bird I heard lately sang its few bars from a fruit tree 

 in the garden. The sun was shining genially, and 

 there was a very pleasant feeling of autumn every- 

 where. A few bars, and a quarrelsome rival came 

 on the scene, and my bird had ended for that day at 

 least. 



For pure musical quality, the song is inferior 

 to that of a thousand thrushes which 

 singing a great part of the day in June, and wei 

 still to be heard though less often early in July 

 yet we set more store by it, and listen more keenly. 



