APPENDIX. 223 
“The two birds which really, upon the whole, are the best songsters 
which build in my garden, where they exist in large numbers, are the 
song thrush (Turdus musicus), and the blackbird (Zurdus merula). 
“The song thrush sings from November till August. It is one of our 
most joyous songsters, beginning to sing early in the morning and con- 
tinuing till late at night. The poet Browning, speaking of this bird, 
says:— 
‘The wise thrush 
. sings each song twice over, 
Lest you should think he never could recapture 
The first fine careless rapture,’ 
“The blackbird has a far softer and more melodious note than the 
thrush ; but the note of the latter bird is more powerful, and his song 
more constant. Together they form a delightful harmony, but they 
more commonly sing alone than together. This country would be shorn 
of half its pleasure if we were deprived of the notes of the thrush and 
the blackbird. 
“ Although birds delight us with their song, yet in my intercourse with 
musical men I have found but few that have the power of recording 
their notes. I therefore requested my brother, Mr. F. Smee, to visit my 
garden and endeavor to take down the notes of the birds as they sang. 
He reported that some of their musical phrases were in the minor key, 
and I have printed several of the strophes as they were sung.” — Smee, 
Alfred: My Garden, pp. 550-553. 
