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118 TURDUS RUFUS. 
border of swamps and rivers. On the first of March, 
they were in full song 1 round the commons at Savannah, 
as if straining to outstrip the mocking bird, that prince 
of feathered musicians. 
The thrasher is a welcome visitant in spring, to 
every lover of rural scenery and rural song. In the 
months of April and May, when our woods, hedgerows, 
orchards, and cherry trees, are one profusion of blossoms, 
when every object around conveys the sweet sensation 
of joy, and heaven’s abundance is, as it were, showering 
around us, the grateful heart beats in unison with the 
varying elevated strains of this 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 indiJ^erence, 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 inno- 
cence, 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, yet I have known a few instances 
wdiere they sung in confinement with as much energy 
as in their native woods. They ought frequently to 
have earth and gravel thrown in to 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 ; wungs, crossed with 
tw r o bars of white, relieved with black ; tips and inner 
wanes of the wings, dusky ; tail, very long, rounded at 
the end, broad, and of the same reddish brown as the 
back ; wdiole lower parts, yellowish white ; the breast, 
and sides under the wings, beautifully marked w r ith 
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 
