SONG OF BIRDS. TITMICE. 
101 
his ivy roost^ joins the strain ; now the blackcap is heard 
loud and clear. Let the enraptured ear dwell for three or 
four minutes on the charming and ever-varied song of the 
garden warbler^ rising' and falling in the softest and sweetest 
swells and cadences. Advancing along the woodland path^ 
we listen to the melody of the green woodwren ; the curious 
song of the yellow woodwren^ high up in the beechen tree ; 
the notes of the whitetliroat, in some individuals musical^ 
in others harsh; and of many other songsters^ which mingle 
with the call of the cuckoo^ and the murmur of the cushat. 
"We may just allude to the Titmice {Parings), a beautiful 
subfamily of warblers^ the species of which are met with in 
the temperate regions of the earthy or on mountains in the 
warmer parts at considerable elevation's. Who has not ad- 
mired our Ox-eye {Parns major) or the little Blue Tit {Parus 
cceruletis) on the slim branches of a tree^ perfect mounte- 
banks^ as it seems to matter little to them whether their 
heads or their heels are uppermost ; dancing at one moment 
in antics round the branches of a tree^ and at the next 
hanging suspended from its most slender twigs"^^^? 
The family Turdid^ contains the Thrushes^ Ant-Thrushes, 
and Orioles^ an extensive and widely distributed group of 
* Hewitson's * British Eggs/ vol. i. p. 111. 
