THE SONG-THRUSH. 217 



heard in rapid succession as the day spreads widely around; and finally 

 the air seems laden with their joyous notes^ now intermingled with the 

 charming song of the Robin and Wren, and the rich and flute-like tones 

 of the Blackbird, the whole forming a perfect plethora of music — Nature's 

 morning concei't, the morning anthem of the woods and fields. Or should 

 his morning melody not suit your convenience, pay his haunt a visit as the 

 sun nears the western horizon ; hear his requiem to the parting day. It 

 may not please so much as his morning song; for then there is a 

 freshness and a vigour throughout all animated nature that probably gilds 

 his performance with a higher charm and lends it an additional sweetness. 

 Still its rich modulations, its infinite variety, and its soothing strains 

 will give unspeakable delight, should the love, the poetry of nature be at 

 all prominent in the soul. Listen, then, to its sweetness till the evening 

 has wrapped the woods in gloom, or the night mist creeps round the moun- 

 tains, hiding the speckled songster from your view ; for he will warble so loug 

 as the last streaks of day are visible. But darkness does not always stay 

 his music ; and in the hours of midnight, notably near the summer solstice, 

 when the dawn is spreading almost as soon as the twilight leaves the western 

 sky, he will sit and warble too. There is no monotony in the notes of the 

 Song-Thrush; they are for ever on the change; and when the birds are 

 numerous and full of song, the cflTect produced is indeed a grand one, and 

 far beyond the art of the most graphic pen to describe." 



The Song-Thrush delights to sing when the soft summer showers are 

 falling. He will perch among the branches under the broad leaves, or 

 sometimes under a projecting rock, and there warble for hours. He has 

 also been known to sing most vigorously during severe thunderstorms. 



The Song-Thrush is a remarkably tame and confiding bird. It is their 

 music which make him and the Sky-Lark so prominent. At most times of 

 the year he is a skulking bird ; but as soon as the first signs of the coming 

 spring warn him to chose a mate, he forgets his life of seclusion. Perch- 

 ing on the topmost branches of trees and shrubs, even on walls and 

 other exposed situations^ he then fills the air with his rich and powerful 

 notes — notes so indescribably beautiful, so varied, and continued for such 

 length of time, as to irresistibly arrest the attention and win the warmest 

 admiration. A peculiarity in the song of this bird, which distinguishes 

 it from the songs of other Thrushes, is that it constantly repeats itself. 

 No sooner has it uttered three or four notes, than, apparently pleased with 

 the combination, it instantly repeats them. Then it tries another quite 

 different combination, which it as constantly repeats. The song has not 

 the rich full melody of that of the Blackbird ; but it is infinitely more 

 varied and generally more prolonged. The call and alarm notes of the 

 Song-Thrush are somewhat varied. Its call-note is a peculiar low cry, 

 something like a Redwing's ; its note when alarmed is a harsh guttural 

 cry, more like a low scream than any thing else ; and its alarm-notes when 



