Sonir Colony B'rds. 155 



reared themselves, one of tliem would fe^d some rudder-tails, 

 a little young'cr, \vhi( h for convenience' I had put into their 

 cage. But Dame Nalu'e has given all young birds an ir- 

 resistibly appealing cry when they are hungry; and when 

 are they not? These Thrushes are v^ery pugnacious among 

 themselves, and no bird of equal or smaller size can be kept 

 in the same cage. The pair I have, reared together, although 

 not from the same nest, have occasionally terrific encounters, 

 first one and then the other gaining the ascendency.* 



There is another Thrush \ery like this, called the 

 Grey-breasted Thrush ; but I hope to write about that in 

 a subsequent article. It may be distinguished from this by 

 its under-wings, which are grey, and not russet-red. 



The God-Bird. Even more familiar in its semi- 

 domesticated habits than the Thrush is the charming little 

 colony Wren yclept the Grod-bird {Troglodytes miisculiis) . It 

 receives its generic name (Cireck, one Avho creeps into holes 

 and crevices), and its specific name^ "the litlh:* mouse,'' from 

 its mouse-like way of running about trunks of trees, under 

 the eaves of houses and other places in search of spiders of 

 which it is very fond. 



It is first cousin to our English wren which it grea- 

 tly resembles in colour and form. But it is more engaging 

 in its habits, being in tlvis respect our robin out here. He 

 will come into our houses in a confidential way, chuckling 

 greetings as he goes. Sometimes he brings his wife and 

 then the pair of them will go running along the pictures and 

 shelves on a tour f)f inspection, making comments to each 

 other ; and now and then the little lord will break out into a 

 song jus*- to relieve his merry little soul. The song is a catch 

 of twelve or more notes with a preliminary strophe on a lower 

 key. I liave noticed that he repeats the same arrangement of 



♦NoMV. Sinco writing the .t1)(i\c one of ilu^c tlini^lu-s lias come to 

 -< tragir end. As ihey were- always fighting, I separated them. .Accident- 

 ally I U-ft open the door of the rage of the hen. A wild thrush got in, 

 the (loot slipped tlown, the birds fought. I riuirned to find my poor hen 

 literally bial[)ed .iiid the intruder with its beak broken. 



