The Throstle

1895

In his declining years it was one of Owen's favorite amusements to observe the habits of birds which frequented his garden. Of the throstle he says: There are a few old cherry trees in the garden, One of them a Bigarreau. This I netted in my first summer's possession to preserve the tempting fruit. When the dish came to table, I thought of the frequent pleasures which the morning and evening warblings of the little robbers had given me and felt ashamed at fencing off what I could cheaply get, as fresh and better, from neighboring market gardens. I never repeated the practice, but left the Bigarreaus with the other cherries as "salary of the orchestra." — Life of Richard Owen.