92 BIRD-SONGS ABOUT WORCESTER. 



blances. Thus our American robin's near- 

 est congener in Europe is the blackbird. 

 Both are thrushes ; they are of about the 

 same size, and, according to the Duke of 

 Argyle, their songs bear a very strong re- 

 semblance to each other. The English 

 robin is about half the size of ours, and is 

 no thrush at all, but belongs, like the 

 nightingale, to the family of European war- 

 blers. I have observed that domestics 

 newly arrived from the Old World always 

 call our robins thrushes, as indeed they 

 should. The nearest relative of the Eng- 

 lish robin in this country is the bluebird. 

 They both have reddish-brown breasts, are 

 of about the same size, and in general re- 

 semble one another very closely. Yet I 

 was much surprised to see in an English 

 encyclopaedia that the American bluebird 

 was known as the English robin. The 

 error of the learned author of the article 

 was in a measure excused by the error of 

 our ancestors. 



In ornithology our meadow-lark is not a 

 lark, but an American starling. Though 



