THE LINNET.

THIS species exhibits much variety, with respect to the red markings, which at certain ages and seasons are found on the head and breast. It is probable, however, that the full plumage of this bird does not take place till the second or third year. Linnets fly in flocks during winter, at which time the males have little or none of the red tints which they put forth on the return of spring, and which are never acquired under confinement. The song of these birds, at once brilliant and soft, consists of many irregular notes, tastefully put together in a clear and sonorous tone, which continues, except at the moulting season, during the whole year. It will also soon acquire the notes of other birds, particularly the nightingale; and may be brought, in a very short time, to imitate any of our tunes that are whistled to it.

THE THRUSH.

CLARE's description of this well-known bird is very

happy :

"Within a thick and spreading hawthorn bush,

That overhung a mole-hill large and round,

I heard, from morn to morn, a merry thrush
Sing hymns to sunshine, while I drank the sound

With joy and often, an intruding guest,

:

I watched her secret toils, from day to day,
How true she warp'd the moss to form her nest,
And modell'd it within with wood and clay.
And by and by, like heath-bells gilt with dew,
There lay her shining eggs, as bright as flowers
Ink-spotted over, shells of green and blue;

And there I witness'd, in the summer hours,
A brood of Nature's minstrels chirp and fly,

Glad as the sunshine, and the laughing sky."

The thrush remains in England the whole year, but is supposed to quit the more northern parts in winter. It is not, however, gregarious with us at any time, though it has been observed to pass through Livonia, Courland, and Prussia, together with the missel and fieldfares, in great numbers about Michaelmas, on their way to the Alps.

The redwing is a species of thrush, much resembling the common one, but is rather less: it differs also as to the distinctness of the spots on the breast, and in the depth of the colour under the wings; the white over the eye is also wanting. It is found in greatest abundance where the hawthorn is plentiful, the berries of that plant yielding it food. It is a migrative species, appearing in great flocks about the end of September, and frequently accompanied by fieldfares. When the weather is severe, or their food becomes scarce, their flight is continued south. In the hard winter of 1799, vast numbers of them resorted to the west of England, where a sudden fall of snow, unusually deep in that part, cut them off from all supply of food; and being too weak to attempt a passage across the sea to a warmer climate, thousands of them, and their companions the fieldfares, were starved to death.

Happily for us, the feathered tribes which leave our land do so only for a time: they appear at the appointed season, calling for the acknowledgment

"Beautiful birds of lightsome wing,

Bright creatures that come with the voice of spring,

We see you array'd in the hues of the morn;

Yet ye dream not of pride, and ye wist not of scorn.
Though rainbow-splendour around you glows,

Ye vaunt not the hues that Nature bestows:

Р

Oh! what a lesson for glory are ye!
How ye preach the grace of humility!

"Sweet birds, that breathe the spirit of song,

And surround Heaven's gate in melodious throng-
Who rise with the earliest beams of day,

Your morning tribute of thanks to pay,

You remind us likewise that we should raise

The voice of devotion and song of praise;

There's something about you that points on high,

Ye beautiful tenants of earth and sky!"

The influence of their notes on the mind of an invalid has often been noticed. Miss Graham thus writes in reference to them :

"When I lay in bed last summer, unable to speak or move for many hours in the day, the song of the birds furnished me with an inexhaustible source of amusing observation. I could not but feel grateful to the melodious little creatures, who beguiled me of half my pain, and made the weary hours of sickness fly away upon wings as light as their own. As if led by an instinctive sympathy, numbers of blackbirds and thrushes came to build their nests round our garden; and the woodpigeons, which had been silent the year before, renewed their soft notes in the high trees by the parsonage lawn. However, they were shy, and I thought myself fortunate, if once or twice in the day their gentle cooing found its way to my ear.