The VULTURE first rose: on the havoc profound He glanc'd; it might even a monarch astound: Nought abash'd, he flew over the desolate dell, Then, stooping, he swept o'er the water's deep swell; A favourite morsel roll'd down in the tide, Its possession an instant enough to decide. The GRALLATORS dipp'd, too, their long beaks in the flood; At times they were stain'd or with gore or with blood. THE WOOD-THRUSH'S EVENING SONG. Turdus Melodus.-(WILSON.) STILL MEMORY culls, O, HAPPINESS! The violet, the pink, the rose, And woodbine, from her bowers. When earth becomes a dreary void, She waves, and lo! in colours bright, A wondrous fairy land! When friends forsake us-when the fates The dearest friends divide, For THEE still MEMORY hovers near, Thy long affianc'd bride. The tender look-the dying word She holds for ever dear; And, while affection prompts the sigh, And sorrow sheds the tear, She beckons HOPE, in misty robe, And dwells with sad delight, on hours Ye VICTIMS of the STORM! for You And for your shroud pimenta leaves Here, wrapt in fragrance, you shall lie; 'Tis said that Man, a monarch here, In other worlds for ever lives Amidst unclouded skies. Then why not WE-why should the gates Ecstatic thought! midst laurel shades For ever thus to sing; Our long lost friends to find again In everliving spring! Still MEMORY culls, O, HAPPINESS! For THEE her choicest flowers : The violet, jasmine, pink, the rose, And woodbines, from her bowers. (67) (67) ORDER, PASSERES; THRUSH, the WOOD, the RED BREASTED. The Turdus Melodus, WOOD-THRUSH, Wood-Robin, or GroundRobin, inhabits the whole of North America, from Hudson's Bay to Florida. Arrives in Pennsylvania about the 20th of April, and returns to the south in October. Length eight inches; the whole upper parts are a fulvous brown, brightening into reddish on the head, and inclining to olive on the rump and tail; throat and breast white, tinged with light buff colour, and beautifully marked with dark spots running all over the belly, which is white. Frequents solitary woods; sings finely in the morning and evening, and also in moist and gloomy weather: the sadder the day the sweeter its song. Eggs four or five, light blue, without spots; nest, in a laurel or elder bush, composed of beech leaves exteriorly, lined with mud, over which is laid fine black fibrous roots of plants; the nest is found in moist situations and the neighbourhood of brooks. This bird is often heard, but rarely seen. For its Morning Song, see page 351. The Turdus Migratorius, RED-BREASTED-THRUSH, or ROBIN, of WILSON, is nine and a half inches long; sings very pleasantly; frequently seen in America in cages, in one of which it has been kept for seventeen years; inhabits the whole of North America, from Hudson's Bay to Nootka Sound and Georgia; rarely breeds on the east side of the mountains south of Virginia. See page 350. EVE at length came, in mantle of purple array'd, While the moon o'er the mountains her radiance display'd. The birds sought repose-who had journeys to take, Deferr'd their return till the morning should wake; Meantime, the sweet MOCKING-BIRD, true to his lay, Thus welcom❜d the NIGHT, thus took leave of the DAY. THE MOCKING-BIRD'S NIGHT SONG. Turdus Polyglottus.—(LINN.) THE garish day is gone to rest, I love, O night! to hear repose Sweet night! of love the tender nurse, I offer unto thee The holiest and the purest vows That e'er can offered be. Hast thou, sweet night! a maiden seen Array'd like seraph bright? She wanders oft in yonder grove; Oh tell me, gentle night! |