The Bird Book 



Song Thrush by its greater size and its 

 paler plumage. The breast lacks the beautiful 

 yellow tinge that characterises the smaller bird, 

 and the spots are larger and bolder. A further 

 distinction is afforded by its voice. No one, who 

 has once heard its harsh alarm cry, tr-r-r-r-r, 

 tr-r-r-r-r, can possibly mistake it afterwards ; 

 but, despite the more familiar, unmusical cry, it 

 has a song, often uttered in the winter months 

 when it is supposed to indicate a coming storm. 

 Its clarion notes are wilder than those of the Song 

 Thrush, and may be heard all over the country 

 side. 



All these birds are of immense service to the 

 farmer, freeing his fields of numberless grubs, 

 which are injurious to his crops. But the farmer 

 has enemies other than grubs, and of such the 

 field-mouse is not the least destructive. Here 

 again the birds are his best friends. All day long 

 the Kestrel is on the watch, hovering now over 

 one spot and now another. A mouse, keeping 

 perfectly still, on the bare earth would probably 

 escape the notice of most human eyes, but it 

 rarely gives the Kestrel such a favourable oppor- 

 tunity. It forms tunnels and galleries among the 

 grass stems, in order to move above ground 

 without being completely exposed, but even there 

 the Hawk seems to detect the slightest movement. 



We cannot wonder that such a hunted creature 

 is timid, for even at night it cannot venture forth 

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