End and along the coast of Cornwall to Plymouth 

 the ship was followed by crowds of Gulls, mostly the 

 Herring and Great Black-backed. 



Lovely Exeter, around its cathedral's close, and the 

 parked streets and private gardens near, was vocal 

 with bird songs. There the large Thrush, often called 

 the Stormcock, which is so like our Thrasher in ap- 

 pearance and song, was always flinging his phrases 

 afar, from some tree-top; while his smaller cousin, 

 the Throstle or Song- thrush gave almost the same 

 notes, less vehemently from some more secluded 

 perch. Browning said of these Thrushes : 



"Hear the wise Thrush repeat his song twice over, 



"Lest you should think he never could re-capture, 



"That first, fine, careless rapture." 



And I had supposed that with Mr. Browning's great 

 accuracy, this marked a difference between the song 

 of our Thrasher and the European Song-thrush, but 

 in listening to the foreign Thrushes I found them as 

 varied in the number of their repetitions as in the 

 Thrasher that repeats his phrases twice, thrice, or 

 many times. These two birds have what we recognize 

 as Thrush plumage, smooth brown above, and white 

 or whitish below, more or less spotted with brown ; but 

 another bird classed with the Thrushes looks as little 

 like them as does our Bluebird, which is included in 

 our Thrush family. This other European Thrush is 

 the Yellow-billed Blackbird, well called by someone 

 a black Robin, for in size, manner and some call notes, 

 especially the "Tut-a-tut-tut," wliich our Robin so 

 often gives, the birds are almost identical. The Yel- 



