48 ON THE NOTES OF BIRDS. 
The following poetical description of the vernal 
-chorus, with which I shall close these observations, is 
from Thomson’s ‘ Seasons,’ “ Spring” :— 
«Up springs the Lark, 
Shrill voie’d, and loud, the messenger of morn ; 
Ere yet the shadows fly, he mounted sings 
Amid the dawning clouds, and from their haunts 
Calls up the tuneful nations. Every copse 
Deep-tangled, tree irregular, and bush 
Bending with dewy moisture, o’er the heads 
Of the coy quiristers that lodge within, 
Are prodigal of harmony. The Thrush 
And Wood-Lark, o’er the kind contending throng 
Superior heard, run through the sweetest length 
Of notes ; when listening Philomela deigns 
To let them joy, and purposes in thought 
Elate, to make her night excel their day. 
The Blackbird whistles from the thorny brake ; 
The mellow Bullfinch answers from the grove: 
Nor are the Linnets. o'er the flowering furze 
Pour’d out profusely, silent. Join’d to these, 
Innumerous songsters, in the freshening shade 
Of new-sprung leaves, their modulations mix 
Mellifluous. The Jay, the Rook, the Daw, 
And each harsh pipe, discordant heard alone, 
Aid the full concert: while the Stock-dove breathes 
A melancholy murmur thro’ the whole.” 
