MOCKERS AND SCOLDERS 141 



Dodo ; " just like a lien. Why doesn't he belong to 

 the Birds that Scratch ? " 



" Because, for one reason, his feet have the three toes 

 in front and the one behind, all on the same level ; this 

 makes him a perching bird." 



*' Don't all birds sit on a perch when they go to 

 sleep ? " asked Dodo. 



" By no means. The perching birds grasp a twig 

 firmly with their very limber toes and sharp claws, and 

 put their head under their wing ; but many others, 

 like tame Geese and Ducks, sleep standing on the 

 ground on one foot or sometimes floating on the water. 



''The Thrasher is a Ground Gleaner, who spends 

 most of his time in the underbrush, having a great 

 appetite for the wicked May beetle ; but he does not 

 live near the ground only, mounting high in a tree 

 when he wishes to sing, as if he needed the pure high 

 air in order to breathe well , and he never sings from 

 the heart of a thick bush, as the Catbird does so fre- 

 quently. », 



" But I am wrong in saying that he onlt/ goes up 

 into trees to sing, for there is no denying that he visits 

 cherry trees to pick cherries, in spite of the fact that 

 he is neither invited nor welcome. Yet we must re- 

 member that if he does like fruit for dessert he has 

 also first eaten caterpillar-soup and beetle-stew, and so 

 has certainly earned some cherries." 



"Hush!" whispered Olive; "our Thrasher is sing- 

 ing now in the birch tree, where you can both see and 

 hear him." 



" That's a sure sign his nest is not very near," said 

 Rap; "for they never sing close by their nests." 



