THETHRUSHES. 73 



and head with such vehemence as to drive him quite 

 away from the spot. The Brown Thrush also finds 

 an enemy in the Blacksnake, which quietly and almost 

 unobserved crawls into the nest for the purpose of 

 making a meal of the eggs or young. But no sooner 

 do the old birds catch sight of him, than a general 

 uproar ensues ; other thrushes in the vicinity assem- 

 ble at the cry of distress and boldly assault the in- 

 truder, fairly pecking the eyes from his head, and it 

 may be well for the poor snake if he escapes without 

 being stretched lifeless upon the ground. 



An anecdote is told of a Thrush, of what species 

 we are uncertain, who had built her nest near the 

 spot where some rocks were being blown with pow- 

 der. At first, whenever the blast would explode she 

 was disturbed by the fragments of rock flying in all 

 directions, but still she would not leave the spot. At 

 length observing that just before the explosion there 

 was a bell rung, upon which the miners immediately 

 withdrew to a place of safety, she concluded to fol- 

 low their example ; accordingly, when the bell rung 

 she retired to the spot where the workmen were shel- 

 tered, and dropped close to their feet, remaining 

 until the explosion had taken place, when she re- 

 turned to her nest. The story of her sagacity was 

 soon told, and visitors wished to gratify themselves 

 by observing the bird. But as explosions could not 

 be produced whenever they pleased, the bell was 

 rung instead, which for a time answered the purpose ; 

 but the bird was not to be so trifled with ; she re- 

 fused to leave her eggs merely to amuse her visitors, 

 7 



