8 FLOWER-GARDENS AND SONG BIRDS. 



exerted himself, as he had already often done, in 

 the cause of natural history. This learned and 

 worthy gentleman sent expressly for a nest to the 

 vineyard of his college. It was found in the roof 

 of the house, and had four eggs in it. The 

 lad who took it had succeeded in capturing the 

 female bird. Having examined the poor captive 

 as minutely as though I had been a custom-house 

 officer, I turned it loose into the world again, 

 and as it flew away I hoped it would have better 

 luck for the time to come. I sent the nest and 

 eggs to England by a different route from that 

 which I myself pursued. Had I taken them 

 with me, they would have gone to the bottom 

 of the Mediterranean Sea, for, in the night of 

 the 16th of June, 1841, my sisters-in-law, Miss 

 Edmonstone and Miss Helen Edmonstone, my 

 little boy, my servants, and myself, were wrecked 

 off the Island of Elba. We had only fifteen 

 minutes to save our lives before the vessel 

 foundered, and we lost every thing except the 

 clothes on our backs. 



The solitary thrush is seen in all the countries 

 of the East, up to Syria and Egypt, and pro- 

 bably much farther on. This bird is solitary 

 to the fullest extent of the word. It being an 



