236 
FERRUGINOUS THRUSH. 
abundance is, as it were, showering around us, the grateful 
heart beats in unison with the varying elevated strains of this i 
excellent bird ; we listen to its notes with a kind of devotional 
ecstasy, as a morning hymn to the great and most adorable 
Creator of all. The human being who, amidst such scenes, 
and in such seasons of rural serenity and delight, can pass > 
them with cold indifference, and even contempt, I sincerely 
pity; for abject must that heart be, and callous those feelings, 
and depraved that taste, which neither the charms of nature, 
nor the melody of innocence, nor the voice of gratitude or 
devotion, can reach. 
This bird inhabits North America, from Canada to the 
point of Florida. They are easily reared, and become very 
familiar when kept in cages ; and though this is rarely done, j 
yet I have known a few instances where they sang in confine- 
ment with as much energy as in their native woods. They 
ought frequently to have earth and gravel thrown into them, 
and have plenty of water to bathe in. 
The Ferruginous Thrush is eleven inches and a half long, 
and thirteen in extent ; the whole upper parts are of a bright 
reddish brown ; wings, crossed with two bars of white, relieved 
with black ; tips and inner vanes of the wings, dusky ; tail, 
very long, rounded at the end, broad, and of the same reddish 
brown as the back ; whole lower parts, yellowish white ; the 
breast, and sides under the wings, beautifully marked with 
long pointed spots of black, running in chains ; chin, white ; 
bill, very long and stout, not notched, the upper mandible 
overhanging the lower a little, and beset with strong bristles 
at the base, black above, and whitish below, near the base ; 
legs, remarkably strong, and of a dusky clay colour ; iris of 
the eye, brilliant yellow. The female may be distinguished 
from the male by the white on the wing being much narrower, 
and the spots on the breast less. In other respects, their 
plumage is nearly alike. 
Concerning the sagacity and reasoning faculty of this bird,, 
my venerable friend Mr Bartram writes me as follows : — “ I 
