THE SONG THRUSH. 81 



The food of the Thrush during winter consists of worms, 

 insects, and snails. The first of these it picks up, or 

 draws out from their holes, in meadows and lawns ; the 

 others it hunts for among moss and stones, in woods and 

 hedges, swallowing the smaller ones whole, and extracting 

 the edible parts of large snails by dashing them with 

 much adroitness against a stone. When it has once dis- 

 covered a stone adapted to its purpose, it returns to it 

 again and again, so that it is not uncommon in one's 

 winter walks to come upon a place thickly strewn with 

 broken shells, all, most probably, the "chips" of one 

 workman. As spring advances, it adds caterpillars to its 

 bill of fare, and as the summer fruits ripen, it attacks 

 them ail in succession ; strawberries, gooseberries, currants, 

 raspberries, cherries, and, on the Continent, grapes suit its 

 palate right well; and, when these are gone, pears and 

 apples, whether attached to the .tree or lying on the 

 ground, bear, too often for the gardener, the marks of its 

 beak on their ripest side. During all this period it relieves 

 the monotony of its diet by an occasional repast on animal 

 food; as, indeed, in winter it alternates its food whenever 

 opportunity occurs, by regaling itself on wild berries. 

 Yet, despite of the mischief which it perpetrates in our 

 gardens by devouring and spoiling much of the choicest 

 fruit, — for your thrush is an epicure, and tastes none 

 but the ripest and best, — the service which it renders 

 as a devourer of insects more than compensates for all. 

 So the gardener, if a wise man, will prefer the scare- 

 authors have endeavoured to express them, I think it will be found 

 that many persons, especially children, hearing the Thrush sing, 

 may detect passages which may be imitated by the human voice 

 and in articulate words. Different birds of the same species vary 

 considerably in tone and compass ; but the reader will be able to 

 detect in the song of the Thrush an approach to such sounds as the 

 following : Judy, Judy, Judy : Bopeep, Bopeep, Bopeep, Bopeep : 

 How d'ye do ? How d'ye do ? To discover the song by reading the 

 words is another matter. ' _ .^i_ ^ , 



