CHARLOTTE SMITH'S ODE. 143 round with the greatest jealousy and circumspection. This is very characteristic of the bird's shy and wary nature. Mr. Alexander Hepburn says: 'Missel Thrushes are very wary birds. When they come to our gardens to eat the berries of the yew, holly, ivy, or mountain ash, they alight on a row of tall willow trees to see if they may remain in safety; and on finding matters according to their wishes, descend to the fruit, making a prodigious noise. They are very quarrelsome among themselves, and drive off the Blackbird and Song Thrushes, and even pursue them on foot round the roots of the evergreens, all the while uttering their harsh notes.' The following lines are from Charlotte Smith's ODE TO THE MISSEL THRUSH. The winter solstice scarce is past, Some pollard tree, or sheltering rock, Oh, herald of the spring! while yet No harebell scents the woodland lane, Braves the bleak gust and driving rain; WHITE'S THRUSH (Turdus Whitei).-This bird, of which we here give a cut, is somewhat larger than the Song Thrush, and rests its claim to admission into the British fauna on two specimens said to have been shot, one in the New Forest, Hampshire, and one at Heron Court, Christchurch, the seat of the Earl of Malmesbury. It is therefore sometimes called the Hampshire Thrush. Macgillivray terms it the Variegated Thrush (Turdus varius). Specimens identical with this have been sent from Java and Australia. Dr. Horsfield in his 'Zoological Researches in Java,' states that the bird inhabits the thick forests which cover the mountain Prahu, and that as far as his observation goes, it never leaves a region between six and seven thousand feet above the level of the ocean. On this circumscribed region it is extremely abundant. Its food consists chiefly of insects and worms. It is easily surprised by the natives. Some naturalists, however, consider Lord Malmesbury's specimen, and those from Java, as distinct species, but this is a question which at present it is impossible to decide. The bird here figured is about 103 inches long, and has a plumage of yellowish brown upon the upper parts, lunated with brownish black; throat, neck, breast and sides white, with a yellowish tinge below the throat, also lunated with brownish black. The bird has all the characteristics of the genus Turdina. THE CHAPTER XI. THRUSHES CONTINUED BLACKBIRD, RING OUZEL, FIELDFARE, AND REDWING. HE BLACKBIRD (Turdus Merula), whose glossy black plumes and golden bill must be sufficiently familiar to our readers, is found in all the wooded and cultivated tracts of England, Scotland, and Ireland; it is the Merle, as old writers termed it, or the Garden Ouzel as we sometimes call it, and especially in the neighbourhood of towns, amid gardens and orchards, tall hedgerows and leafy copses, may its loud, clear, mellow song be heard from morning till night, and from the beginning of spring till the middle of July, and sometimes quite late into the autumn. There so loud the Blackbird sings Mudie says The Blackbird nestles quite close to the house, on ivied walls, in old trees, and thick bushes, and at a moderate height from the ground. The nest is made of moss and sticks, plastered inside with mud, and lined with soft and dry matters. The brood is from three to six, but rarely the latter number; and the eggs are of a K 146 AN INDISCRIMINATE FEEDER. greenish blue, with very obscure dusky markings. But, as is the case with most birds that frequent cultivated districts, the colour both of the birds and eggs is subject to variety. The Blackbird sings early; and though there is not nearly so much spirit and variety in his song as in that of the Thrush, it is soft and clear, and has a sort of flute-like tone which makes a pleasant variety among the number of more sharp and trilling voices. There are usually two, and frequently three, broods of Blackbirds in the year, and thus the song continues through a great part of the season, though it is not heard so continually, so long at a time, or from so lofty a perch, as that of the Thrush. Notwithstanding its solitary and hiding habits, the Blackbird is more easily tamed and more patient of restraint than the Thrush. In a wild state the Blackbird appears to be a somewhat indiscriminate feeder. Having, [says Macgillivray,] opened five individuals, I found in the stomach of one a great quantity of seeds, and husks of graminæ, including wheat and oats; in that of another coleopterous insects; in that of a third coleoptera, and seeds of various kinds; in that of the fourth, mollusca, and fragments of shells; in that of the fifth, seeds, mollusca, and a few grains of gravel. Earthworms, larvæ, berries, and seeds of various kinds, I have also observed in the stomachs of numerous individuals which I have opened. It is amusing to observe a Blackbird searching for food on the smooth green of a garden, which one may easily do from the window without being noticed. In December 1832 I watched one in order to note its motions. After looking quietly at a particular spot for some time, it hopped up, began to peck the ground with great energy, and after some exertion succeeded in dragging out a worm of moderate size, which it immediately threw on the ground. It then pecked at the worm for nearly a minute, and beginning at one end, separated by a sudden stroke a small portion, which it swallowed. In this manner it proceeded until it had devoured the whole, not swallowing at any time more than a small fragment. It then hopped about, looking now and then attentively at a certain spot, and at length began to dig vehemently for another worm, which it soon procured. This was the first time that I had closely watched a Blackbird while searching for worms; but I have since had repeated opportunities of convincing myself that it always proceeds in the same manner, never swallowing an entire worm, unless it happens to be extremely small, and cutting the very large ones into a great number of pieces. In almost every temperate region of the earth may the glossy plumes-according to Buffon of a more decided black than even those of the raven-of the Blackbird be FOUND EVERYWHERE. 147 seen; and its mellow note may be heard, not only throughout the whole of Europe, but also in Syria, and other parts of Northern Asia. A British traveller, Buchanan, who many years since penetrated into the rocky fastnesses of the Nepaulese territory, whose rugged mountains may be considered as the first stepping-stones to the more lofty Himalayas, brought back word to his fellow countrymen of the Grampians, that thus closely bordering upon the burning plains of India, he had beheld such well-known plants as pine trees and primroses, strawberries and hawthorns, and had listened to the notes of the Merle, that bird of home associations. What must have been his thoughts, thousands of miles away from those familiar scenes, amid which he had last heard that sweet music, in a strange rugged land, among a people of a different faith and a different tongue ? What visions of 'auld lang syne,' must have been conjured up by those magic notes, unlocking the treasure-house of memory, and unsealing the fount of the purest and holiest feeling of man's heart. Doubtless he was a youthful lover once, and that familiar strain might have recalled to his recollection such a scene as we may suppose Elgiva looks upon in the play of 'Edwin the Fair,' when she asks, How long since Is it, that standing on this compassed window, Aye, how long since? What an echo these words must have found in the bosom of our traveller, and how involuntarily the question must have risen on his lips-how long will it be ere I again visit the sweet scenes of early life, and behold the faces, and hear the voices of those who are dear to me? Perchance it was eventide, and he was in some green valley, snugly nestled amid the rugged hills, when his ear first caught the sound of this home-bird's song, poured out from a blossoming hawthorn bush, or from amid the dark boughs of a pine tree, like that of his native |