BIRDS. 181 
of his body. He feeds on berries, fruit, insects, &c. The 
species of this bird in Surinam and South America is not 
of so deep a black ; and the throat and part of the breast 
are of a crimson colour. 
THE THRUSH, OR THROSTLE, ( Turdus viscivorus, ) 
Is one of the best " songsters" of the evening hymn in the 
grove. His tone is loud and sweet ; the melody of his 
song is varied, and, although not so deep in the general 
diapason of the woodland concert as that of the black- 
bird, yet it fills up agreeably, and bursts through the in- 
ferior warblings of smaller performers. His breast is of a 
yellowish white, all over spotted with black or brown 
dashes, like ermine spots. The Missel Thrush, so called 
from his feeding on the berries of the misletoe, differs but 
little from the Song Thrush, except in size. He is larger 
than the fieldfare, while the Throstle is smaller. The 
female lays five or six bluish eggs, with a tint of green, 
and marked with dusky spots. The terms Merle for the 
Blackbird, and Mavis for the Thrush, are used chiefly by 
the poets. 
