THROSTLE. 



shells together, as if brought to one particular stone 

 for that purpose,.* 



The song of the Thrush (says Mr. Mudie) is 

 unquestionably the finest of any of our permanent 

 wood songs, and superior in power and clearness, 

 though not in variety, to that of any of the warblers. 

 But the very abundance of it perhaps makes it less 

 prized than it should be. The Nightingale heard 

 in the depth of groves, and during the soft and 

 balmy stillness of the summer's night, may have 

 more of the lusciousness of romance about it ; but 

 there is a bold, natural, and free feeling of rustic 

 vigour, enjoyment, and endurance about the 

 Thrush, which gives it a more home and hearty 

 interest in all parts of the country, than can be 

 possessed by any bird of passage, whatever may be 

 its charms while it stays. The Thrush is especi- 

 ally one of the birds of plenty : its blithe and varied 

 song is never heard amid desolation ; and if you 

 hear a Thrush, you have not very far to go ere you 

 come to a human dwelling. When its animal 

 food, which it at all times prefers to that which is 

 vegetable, fails, the Thrush may commit more 

 depredations among the fruits than many other 

 birds ; but when the snail shells by the hedgeside 

 are counted, and it is gravely considered how com- 

 pletely these and their broods would have eaten all 

 the early vegetables as they got above ground, and 

 the strawberries and peaches as soon as they began 

 to ripen, it is at least an undetermined question, 



* Ornithological Dictionary. 



D 



