THE SONG THRUSH. 363 



these worms were fcJ to tlic young birds, wliicli received, so far as we 

 noticed, no other aliment. 



On another occasion we watched a j)air of robins in feeding their young, 

 and saw them in an liour's time carry to tlieir family of four, over forty cut- 

 worms and smooth caterpillars, and, we believe, a very few earth-worms. 

 Such appetites and powers of digestion in birds but half-grown seem almost 

 incredible ; but we nuist remember that these larvae and worms are composed 

 almost entirely of juices, and their assimilation is comparatively an easy 

 matter. 



Looking at the utility of the robin, in a simply practical view then, it 

 appears to us, from the above fiicts, that this bird is eminently useful, and 

 worthy of encouragement and protection. We cannot expect to receive any 

 rose without its attendant thorn, and that the good services of the robia 

 should be hoped for without expecting that he may exact a certain share of 

 the fruits of his labors, is unreasonable and unfair. 



Our Song, or Wood Tlu-ush, is one of the most beautiful of our wood birds. 

 It is distributed very generally throughout our continent, from ^Nlassachu- 

 setts on the north-east, to the jNlissouri River on tiie west ; and while breed- 

 ing in the north, it passes the winter in the Gulf States and Central America. 

 It arrives in the latitude of Now England, from the South, about the 10th 

 of May, both sexes making their appearance at about the same time. They 

 soon connnence pairing, and frequent the moist thickets and thickly wooded 

 glens, where their amours are conducted in privacy and peace. 



At this season the beautiful song of the male is heard at early dawn and 

 early twilight. It seldom sings in the middle of the day, unless the weather 

 is dark and cloudy. This song is a beautiful, melancholy strain, similar to 

 the tone produced on a flute ; the notes are difficult of description. ]Mr. 

 Nuttall, who was particularly happy in his descriptions of bird-songs, 

 speaks of this as follows : — 



" The prelude to this song resembles almost the double-tonguing of the 

 flute, blended with a tinkling, shrill, and solemn warble, which rec'choes 

 from his solitary retreat like the dirge of some sad recluse, who shuns the 

 busy haunts of life. The whole air consists usually of four parts, or bars, 

 which succeed, in deliberate time, and finally blend together in impressive 

 and soothing harmony, becoming more mellow and sweet at every re[)eti- 

 tion. Kival performers seem to challenge each other from various parts of 

 the wood, vying for the favor of their mates with sympathetic responses and 

 softer tones. And some, waging a jealous strife, terminate the warm dis- 

 pute by an appeal to combat and violence. Like the robin and the tlu-asher, 

 in dark and gloomy weather, when other birds are sheltered and silent, the 

 clear notes of the wood thrush are heard through the dropping woods, from 



