THE THRUSH 



143 



erery respect far superior. This beautiful 

 animal entirely resembles a blackbird in all 

 but its blue colour. It lives in the highest 

 parts of the Alps, and even there chooses the 



not without much risk and labour that their young brood 

 can be got at; and even when the robber arrives at the 

 place, a sure danger awaits him of having his eyes 

 plucked out by these birds, which are not less courage- 

 ous than distrustful, and will defend their young with 

 desperate obstinacy. Their eggs are four or five in num- 

 ber, of a greenishiblue. 



The rose-coloured Rlackbird pleases the eye by the 

 beauty and brilliancy of its plumage, but it also possesses 

 other qualities far more valuable. It is a great destroyer 

 of grasshoppers, locusts, &c. of which it devours an in- 

 credible number every day in the various parts of the 

 east. It was regarded by the ancients, who called it 

 Seleucida, as a favour of the gods, when these scourges, 

 more destructive to the productions of the earth than 

 hail and tempest, devastated the country. Even at 

 present, the Arabs, the Indians, and the inhabitants of 

 Aleppo are accustomed by superstitious practices to 

 invoke this bird, which they call the Samarmar, to 

 come to the succour of the crops, which are attacked by 

 myriads of locusts. The Turks esteem it a sacred bird, 

 and will not suffer it to be killed in their presence. It 

 would be well if their example was more generally 

 imitated with respect to all birds that render similar 

 services to mankind. It would appear that this black- 

 bird has no song, at least ornithologists and travellers 

 make no mention of it. According to Forskel, its cry 

 is heard at a great distance, and may be expressed thus: 

 tr, tr, tr. This species appears spread through the 

 hottest and coldest parts of the old continent. Forskel 

 has seen it on the burning sands of Arabia, and in the 

 plains of Aleppo, in July and August. Le Vaillant has 

 met with it in Africa, as high as 24 south latitude. 

 It has been sent into this country from Bengal. Pallas 

 has found it in the north of Siberia, in the mountainous 

 vicinity of the Irtish, where it nestles. Very nume- 

 rous flocks of these birds traversed Provence and Pied- 

 mont, in the autumn of 1817. They are found in the 

 mountains of Lapland, are common on the shores of the 

 Caspian, near Astracan, and along the entire extent of 

 the Volga. They pass every year in large flocks into 

 the southern part ol Russia. The rose-coloured black- 

 birds, which are seen on the continent, come only dur- 

 ing the passage time of other birds; at this period many 

 are observed in Burgundy. Klein assures us, that they 

 have a name in Spanish, which indicates that they are 

 known in Spain. Aldrovandus, the first naturalist who 

 has mentioned these birds, informs us, that they some- 

 times appear in the plains of Bologna, where the fowlers 

 call them sea-starlings. They perch on dunghills, 

 grow very fat, and their flesh is good eating. They 

 have been sometimes seen in this country. 



The Mocking -thrush, properly so called, or Mocking- 

 bird, derives its name from the peculiar talent which il 



possesses of imitating the cries and a part oi' the song of 



most craggy rocks and the most frightful 

 precipices lor its residence. As it is rarely 

 caught, it is in high estimation even in the 

 countries where it breeds, but still more valu- 



other birds: but it does not give a caricatured imita- 

 tion of those foreign sounds its denomination would 

 appear to indicate ; on the contrary, if it imitates it is 

 only to embellish. The cries and half-phrases with which 

 it enriches its own naturally varied song, have occa- 

 sioned the aborigines of Mexico to give it a name far 

 more appropriate and more justly applicable, that of 

 Cencontlatolli, which means four hundred languages. 

 This bird not only sings with taste, and without mono- 

 tony, but also with action and animation. It is, perhaps, 

 one of the first of singing birds; but to place it above 

 the nightingale, with Fernandez^ Kieremberg, and 

 others, can only be done by those who have never heard, 

 or who have entirely forgotten the song of that delight- 

 ful bird. The voice of the mocking-thrush is more loud 

 and powerful, hut by no means so agreeable within a 

 certain distance. Its song has little of the softness, 

 delicacy, and plaintive tenderness that so peculiarly 

 characterize the nightingale during the season of love. *" 

 As there is no bird among the Americans at all to be 

 compared to the mocking-bird, it is not astonishing that 

 they should have exalted it into so extraordinary a 

 character, and raised it. above all other birds. They 

 have, however, exaggerated its talents, in stating that it 

 can imitate completely, and in all their parts, the song 

 of other birds, the cries of different quadrupeds, the 

 cryiug of infants, the laughter of a young girl, and in 

 being able to repeat entire airs on the same key in 

 which it has heard them. It does not possess the 

 imitative talent to this degree, even in captivity. The 

 mewing of the cat, however, it takes on" so completely 

 as to deceive any ear. (See note at page 14ti.) 



This bird is very common in St Domingo, where 

 it is called the nightingale ; but there it possesses none 

 of those qualities so much vaunted in North America. 

 Its song, however, is the same. It frequents the 

 savannahs, delights to be near habitations, and seems to 

 love the society of man, the sight of whom is alone suffi- 

 cient to excite it to sing. This bird moves the tail up 

 and down, and often carries it in a raised position: at 

 such times its wings are pendant. Bold and courage- 

 ous, the mocking-thrush is frequently at war with the 

 pipiris, and forces the little birds of prey to quit the 

 places which it has adopted for its own abode, especially 

 during the hatching-time. It places its nest on trees 

 of middle size, or in thick bushes, gives it a similar 

 form to that of the missel, and furnishes the base with- 

 out with thorny branches. It lays four or five eggs, 

 spotted with red points on a white ground, which points 

 are larger towards towards the thick end than elsewhere. 

 It feeds on insects and different berries. It is brought 

 up in cages, but to preserve it, it must be taken in the 

 nest, and its tastes and wants be carefully studied and 

 administered to. When this is done, it will continue 

 to sing many years. It is about the size of the redwing, 

 and the female is of the same dimensions with the male. 



We pass on to the LOBIOTS or ORIOLES. 



The Oriole, properly so called, and golden Oriole of 

 Latham, comes into France about the middle of spring, 

 and quits in autumn to pass the winter in Africa. It 

 migrates at uncertain periods into England and Sweden. 

 On their arrival, the male and female soon couple, and 

 place their nest at the extremity of the branches of very 

 elevated trees. This nest is constructed with much art 

 and industry: it is attached to the bifurcation of two 

 small branches : the birds enlace around the two branches, 

 which form this bifurcation, long threads of straw, flax, 

 or wool, some of which going right from one branch to 

 another, form the edge of the nest in front, and the 



