SONG THRUSH 5 
hour, and frequently again till the 19th at least of the 
same month; and on 14th January 1790 he notes: ‘I got a 
few turns upon the pier-head in an interval betwixt two 
showers, and was then highly entertained with the melody 
of my sweet thrush, perched upon his favourite thorn. I 
am quite alarmed for his safety; there are so many foolish 
fathers that permit their booby sons, mere boys, to ramble 
about with guns, and with such urchins blackbirds and 
thrushes are choice game.’ 
At the present time the Song Thrush is not an abundant 
bird. It is well distributed even up to the heads of the 
cultivated valleys; but except perhaps where, as in the 
suburbs of Douglas, gardens and shrubberies abound, it is 
not numerous, nor does it inhabit the rocky and ferny 
localities where the Blackbird may be found.’ Contrary to 
what is the case in England, it is more plentiful in winter 
than in summer, and I am told that some fifteen years ago 
a nest was almost unknown in Lonan, where perhaps the 
growth of shrubs in enclosures has fostered its increase. 
On the other hand, Mr. Kermode says that it is rarely seen 
in our northern and westerly parishes, meaning probably 
the flat north of the Sulby, and thinks that it is diminishing 
in numbers. Along the foot of the Lezayre hills, however, 
it is not uncommon, at least in winter, when also it frequents 
the gardens at Castletown, but disappears from them and 
largely from the district in spring. It figures abundantly 
in the lighthouse records. Thus, on 5th January 1887, six 
Thrushes are killed at the Bahama L. V. out of numbers 
flying round the ship. On 21st October 1879, at Point of 
Ayre, two hundred are recorded, along with Blackbirds; on 
19th July 1880 at the same, one hundred and sixty ‘ young 
Thrushes’ were seen moving south; and during the great 
1 Yet Mr. A. Christian in 1905 saw a nest on the ground at the edge of the 
old lime-kiln on the bare shores of Scarlett. 
