Thrush's Song 105 



a friend, without a single bad trait in his character, and as 

 such is deserving our protection, quite irrespective of the 

 debt we owe him for his song in spring. How gratefully 

 that song falls upon human ears, poets of all ages have never 

 ceased to tell us ; but how much sweeter must it sound to 

 the attuned ears of his mate ! Macgillivray has thus 

 translated its language : 



" Dear, dear, dear, 

 Is the rocky glen ; 

 Far away, far away, far away, 

 The haunts of men. 

 Here shall we dwell in love, 

 With the lark and the dove, 

 Cuckoo and corn-rail ; 

 Feast on the banded snail, 

 Worm and gilded fly, 

 Drink of the crystal rill, 

 Winding adown the hill, 

 Never to dry. 



With glee, with glee, with glee, 

 Cheer up, cheer up, cheer up, here . 

 Nothing to harm us j then sing merrily, 

 Sing to the loved ones whose nest is near, 



?ui, qui, qui, kweeu, quip, 

 iurru, tiurru, chipiwi, 

 Too-tee, too-tee, chiu, choo, 

 Chirri, chirri, chooce, 

 Quiu, qui, qui ! " 



Let us, then, not grudge the minstrel the price of his 

 hire, nor blame him because he fails to recognise that the 

 table spread by Dame Nature is replenished with the kindly 

 fruits of the earth for us but not for him. Instinct did 

 not include that lesson in his curriculum, and, if we would 

 teach it now, let us do so in reason and with mercy. A 

 few yards of netting will protect our berries, and warn the 

 Thrush, and his cousin the Blackbird, that their presence is 

 unwelcome ; but he would be considered a harsh judge who 

 would mete out death as a punishment for ignorance. 



Most of the Song Thrushes, like their larger relatives, 



