ECONOMIC ORNITHOLOGY 279 



High Halden 291, at Wye they are included with sparrows and 

 linnets (green), and numbered, I believe, 700. Yet in these 

 places they are still in great numbers. This is to some extent 

 due to partial migration. Annually great flocks arrive in the 

 eastern counties, and then proceed farther south and west. 

 Owing also to their rapid rate of reproduction, often having 

 three or four nests in the year, it will be all man can do to keep 

 this pest in check. 



The damage in recent years to fruit has been enormous. 

 They do not seem to be particular, for ripe and ripening cherries, 

 strawberries, raspberries, red and white currants, and plums 

 are cleared off wholesale. Recently apples have been badly 

 attacked, always the best and brightest fruit spoiled by their 

 pecking holes in it. This wholesale attack takes a large slice 

 of the fruit-grower's profits from him. Those who wish the 

 bird protected say in support that it devours large numbers of 

 beetles, caterpillars, snails, etc., and that its song is beautiful. 



Every one interested in the cultivation of fruit is agreed that 

 the Blackbird is a veritable plague ; the good it does is slight, 

 and there seems not the least doubt that, with the Bullfinch, 

 it should be destroyed. Moreover, if killed in the winter, they 

 can be utilised as food, for they form no unpalatable dish. 



With regard to the Thrush, there are extenuating circum- 

 stances, for it is one of the chief means by which snails are 

 kept in check, and snails are very difficult for man to destroy. 

 The "judge" must recommend the Thrush to mercy. But as 

 regards a destroyer of fruit, it is almost as bad as the Blackbird. 

 It is not so bad with the apples, it is true, but with other fruit 

 it vies with its relation as a destructive agent. 



Mr. Hooper tells us that " even after large numbers have 

 been killed, fresh arrivals take the place of the slaughtered 

 birds." All the young thrushes reared in this country are said 

 to emigrate as soon as they can, and are then followed by their 

 parents, so that many parts of the kingdom are bereft of this 

 bird from October to January. But there is no doubt that many 

 remain over the winter. In spite of the damage it does to fruit, 

 we must record the fact that for nine months the thrush does 

 good, feeding on snails, slugs, insects, worms, and berries. 

 Those that are permanent suffer severely in cold winters, long 

 before the blackbirds, and they do not seem to increase, as does 

 the latter bird. 



