Friend or 
Foe? 
(115) THE BIRD WORLD. 
Drink of the crystal rill, 
Winding adown the hill, 
Never to dry. 
With glee, with glee, with glee, 
Cheer up, cheer up, cheer up, here 
Nothing to harm us ; then sing merrily, 
Sing to the loved ones whose nest is near, 
Qui, qui, qui, kweeu, quip, 
Tiurru, tiurru, chipiwi, 
Too-tee, too-tee, chiu choo, 
Chirri, chirri, chooee, 
Quiu, qui, qui ! ” 
would be considered a harsh judge who 
would punish ignorance with death. 
The Song Thrush is the mavis of Scot¬ 
land, though that name is sometimes 
applied by old writers to the Missel 
Thrush. Thus Spenser says : 
“ The thrush replyes : the mavis descant plays.” 
And Skelton, in Philip Sparrow , writes : 
Let us, then, not grudge the minstrel 
the price of his hire, nor blame him 
because he fails to recognise that the 
table which Dame Nature replenishes 
with the kindly fruits of the earth, is not 
spread for him as well as for us. In¬ 
stinct did not include that lesson in the 
curriculum, and if we would teach it 
now let us do so in reason and with 
mercy. A few yards of netting will pro¬ 
tect our berries, and warn the Thrush 
that his presence is unwelcome, but he 
“ The threstill with her warblynge, 
The mavis with her whistell.” 
In France the Thrush is Mauvis; in 
Spain, Malvis. Thrysce was the Anglo- 
Saxon word, which is still almost the 
exact pronunciation given to Thrush in 
the West of England. Throstle is also 
Anglo-Saxon, and is still in common use 
in many parts. In Germany we have 
Drossel. In Wales one of the common 
names of the Thrush is T res glen. 
Photo hy] 
At Eventide 
[Z. Grey. 
“The Mavis wild wi’ many a note, sings drowsy day to rest. 
