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pean cousin, the storm-cock, whose song is loudest when 

 the snow blows fiercest, he leaves his Northern home ere 

 the frost has chilled the air, to spend the coining winter 

 in the genial South. 



When the season for his Northern migration arrives 

 it is amusing to watch his curious flight. Along the 

 banks of streams from bush to bush, across logs and where 

 the underbrush is the thickest he steals cautiously along 

 like a scout in the enenry's country. Now he is silent 

 and shy, his only note that of alarm, is a quick, sharp 

 chirp, but when in company with his mate he has reach- 

 ed his breeding ground his whole aspect is changed as if 

 by magic. He is no longer a timid skulking traveler, but 

 a, bold rollicking lover perfectly at home, unci conscious 

 of his power to please. In his song he is to the North 

 what the mocking-bird is to the South. Possessing an 

 accurate and varied range uf imitation his notes sweet 

 and clear only sutler by comparison with the far-famed 

 Southern bird's. 



The brown thrush, or French mocking-bird, as he is 

 sometimes called, has not a little eccentricity and conceit. 

 He seems to prefer the prominent trees near the house 

 or public highway, where he can be heard and seen; and 

 there perched upon the topmost bough his rich rhapsody 

 is poured forth with untiring ecstacy. 



When the dusky scenery of the night is shifted and 

 the purple curtain of the dawn is raised, he is the grand 



