264 



PASSERES. 



TURDID.E. 



TURD1DA1. 



TURDTJS Musicus, Linnaeus*. 

 THE SONG-THEUSH. 



Turdus musicus. 



THE SONG-THRUSH, Throstle or Mavis, is a well-known 

 and general favourite, chiefly from an opinion that it is the 

 best of our larger singing-birds, possessing to a greater 

 extent than others a combination of the three requisites 

 power, quality of tone, and variety. Its song is also con- 

 tinued through a large portion of the year, beginning with 

 the first mild weather, lasting until the commencement of 

 the moult, and being often resumed in autumn. In addition 

 to this great recommendation to favour, the bird is, except 

 for a few weeks, not only inoffensive in habit, but most bene- 

 ficial to the horticulturist, elegant in shape, sprightly in 

 action, and engaging by its confidence. It is not, as we find 

 it in this country, so gregarious as some other species of 

 the genus, but is widely distributed throughout the British 



* Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 292 (1766). 



