Birds by Land and Sea 



tide by shouting defiance to a not too aggressive sou'- 

 wester ; and the blackbird, emerging from months 

 of indolence, made mellow music with his low fluting 

 all day long. The song of the blackbird is just such 

 a one as this lover of quiet and seclusion might be 

 expected to give utterance to when taking his ease 

 free from alarm. Some birds, such as the masterful 

 stormcock, sing to half a mile of country at once ; 

 others sing to each other like answering canton and 

 decani of the grove ; the blackbird sings to himself. 

 Mellow, leisurely, easeful, with no more sign of effort 

 than the dreamy gurgle of some slowly gliding brook, 

 the low fluting notes have the richness of a fine 

 contralto, of a great singer not over-careful in her 

 phrasing, singing alone, unconsciously, distraught. 

 The blackbird holds a unique position among the 

 finer singers ; no other has, like him, the right 

 soothing note. 



But the song of the throstle dominated all, bird 

 answering bird in joyous emulation, so that it seemed 

 strange that the roving bands of fieldfares, encom- 

 passed on all hands by the spring song of their 

 congeners, should escape infection, and fail to be 

 drawn into the general chorus. 



The robin could not well fail at such a time ; 

 but there is now less contention, and more content- 

 ment, in his song. He is less in evidence than 

 before, but when found in some secluded corner, starts 

 up, and from gatepost or fence-rail bobs his head 

 and flirts his tail, with a vigorous " Tet-tet ! " the 



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