British Song Birds; Being Popular Descriptions and Anecdotes of the Choristers of the Groves (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: Varieties, more or less white, are occasionally met with. The usual cry of this bird is a short shrill chirp, uttered at small intervals. 1 am informed by a correspondent, that a Himalayan species of Thrush, figured by Gould, but not yet named, has twice occurred in this country. My informant calls it the Mottle- backed Thrush, but as I know nothing of its habits, I am compelled to confine myself to this cursory notice. Genus MERULA, Will. OUZEL. Garden Ouzel, Merula vulgaris, Will. When snow-drops die, and the green primrose leaves Announce the coming flower, the Merle's note, Mellifluous, rich, deep-toned, fills all the vale, And charms the ravished ear. The hawthorn bush New budded, is his perch; there the grey dawn He hails; and there, with parting light, concludes His melody. Oka Ha Ue's Birds of Scotland. Synosyms.?Merula vulgaris, Will. Orn.?Selby's Br. Orn.?Analyst, No. 13. ?Turdus merula, Linn. Syet.?Lath. Ind. Orn.?Black Ouzel, Bbw. Hist. Br. Birds.?Yellow-bill Ouzel, Analyst, No. 13. This well known bird is resident and common in every part of the British Islands, and is one of our most admired songsters. It pairs early in March, and commences building about the end of that month, generally somewhat before the Garden Thrush. It inhabits such various localities, that it is no easy matter to determine what are its favourite haunts. I think, however, that it is mostly found in walled gardens, and woods near houses, abounding with laurels and other thick bushes. Here it conceals itself in the thickest shades, during the whole day, only rising to the top of the bushes for the purpose of pouring forth its rich melody. It is considerably shyer and fonder of seclusion than any of the other British Turdidte, and only appears in open ground.early in the mor...