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THE AMERICAN ROBIN OR MIGRATORY 

 THRUSH. 



TuRDus mighatorius, Linn. 



PLATE CXXXI. Male, Female, Youkg, and Nest. 



The first land-bird seen by me, when I stepped upon the rugged 

 shores of Labrador, was the Robin ; its joyful notes were the first that 

 saluted my ear. Large patches of unmelted snow still dappled the sur- 

 face of that wild country ; and although vegetation was partially re- 

 newed, the chillness of the air was so peculiarly penetrating, that it 

 brought to the mind a fearful anxiety for the future. The absence of 

 trees, properly so called, the barren aspect of all around, the sombre 

 mantle of the mountainous distance that hung along the horizon, excited 

 the most melancholy feelings ; and I could scarcely refrain from shedding 

 tears when I heard the song of the Thrush, sent there as if to reconcile 

 me to my situation. That song brought with it a thousand pleasing 

 associations referring to the beloved land of my youth, and soon inspired 

 me with resolution to persevere in my hazardous enterprise. 



The traveller who, for the first time in his life, treads the wastes of 

 Labrador, is apt to believe that what he has been told or read of it, must 

 be at least in part true. So it was with me : I had conceived that I 

 should meet with numberless Indians who would afford me much infor- 

 mation respecting its rivers, lakes, and mountains, and who, like those of 

 the far west, would assist me in procuring the objects of my search. But 

 alas ! how disappointed was I when, in rambling along three hundred 

 miles of coast, I scarcely met with a single native Indian, and was as- 

 sured that there were none in the interior. The few straggling parties 

 that were seen by my companions or myself, consisted entirely of half- 

 bred descendants of " the mountaineers ;"" and, as to Esquimaux, there 

 were none on that side of the country. Rivers, such as the Natasguan, 

 which on the maps are represented as of considerable length, degenerated 

 into short, narrow, and shallow creeks. Scarcely any of its innumerable 

 lakes exceeded in size what are called ponds in the Southern States ; and, 

 although many species of birds are plentiful, they are far less numerous 

 than they were represented to us by the fishermen and others before we 



