SONG THRUSH. 139 



swallowed, and then, without flying off", sat down upon them an 

 hour and a half. A short time after this I observed her repeat 

 the same thing. In farther confirmation of this curious fact, I 

 shot a male the moment after he had swallowed the droppings, 

 and upon dissection they were found deposited in his stomach. 



" They are so exceedingly acute of hearing, that the least 

 motion which I made attracted their attention ; and I am con- 

 fident that, had it not been a very stormy day, 1 should not 

 have succeeded in my observations. 



" In erecting their nests Thrushes are sometimes very expe- 

 ditious. On Thursday morning, the loth of June 1837, a pair 

 began to build in an apple tree in my garden. On Friday 

 afternoon the nest was finished, and on Saturday morning, the 

 ]7th, the first egg was laid in it, although the plaster in the in- 

 side was very wet. On Wednesday the 21st the female began 

 to sit on five eggs, and on Monday the l7th of July, the young 

 ones flew out of their nest. 



" Thrushes are sometimes very tame. Although I have put 

 my head within a few inches of their nest, the female remained 

 upon her eggs without shewing any symptoms of uneasiness ; 

 and when the young ones were nearly ripe, I have stood within 

 a few yards of her whilst she was feeding them. 



" In the inside of the barn of Bathville Farmhouse, about a 

 mile west from my residence, in the middle of June 1883, a 

 pair of Thrushes built their nest on the end of the shaft of a 

 thrashing-machine, which had been set up against the wall, 

 and there brought up five young ones. So familiar did they 

 become, that when the children put down bread to them, they 

 immediately picked it up, and gave it to their brood. 



" Wishing to know how soon Thrushes would build after 

 having been deprived of their young, I took four ripe ones out 

 of a nest, on Tuesday the 6th of June 1837. Having caught 

 the female, I pulled the feathers out of her tail, and set her at 

 liberty. On Wednesday, the 21st of June, I discovered her 

 sitting upon four eggs, of which I deprived her, and on Mon- 

 day the 8th of July she again had a nest with eggs. I allow- 

 ed her to bring up her family unmolested, 



" The feeling of tenderness which these birds manifest towar(J 



