bS TREATISE ON 



Song, 



Amateurs and naturalists are much divided with 

 regai'd to the merits of this bird's song. Some 

 think it inferior to the song-thrush, others supe- 

 rior. That eminent ornithologist, Colonel Mon- 

 tagu, is of the latter opinion. He says, " Tlie 

 song of this bird is much louder, and superior to • 

 that of the throstle's. Perched on the upper-* 

 most branch of a tall tree, it sings while the fe- 

 male is making her nest, and during incubation, 

 but becomes silent as soon as the young are hatch- 

 ed, and is no more heard till the beginning of the 

 new year, unless the young are taken, or tlie fe- 

 male is destroyed : then it continues its song the 

 whole summer." This experiment, he says, he 

 has tried upon this and several other song-birds, 

 and always found it invariable. With respect to 

 the song of the missel-thrush, we ourselves know., 

 it to be loud indeed, but rich, and full of deep- ] 

 toned mellowness. 



Tliis bird ought never to be kept in an a^^ary, 

 or it wdll harass, perhaps kill, the other birds, and i 

 may destroy theii* eggs and young. In this respect, 

 as well as in some of its other habits, we think 

 it nearly allied to the butcher-birds, and that it 

 forms the link between them and the thruslies. 



