February Birdlife 73 



People with whom I talked knew the birds by local names 

 — to me entirely new names — and in many cases it was diffi- 

 cult to tell what species they were talking about as their ef- 

 forts to describe the bird's appearance were often very mis- 

 leading. For instance they told me that I should be there a 

 little later when the " Pops " came. Their handsomest bird, 

 they said, was the " Red Pop," while the " Blue Pop," and the 

 " Green Pop " were also beauties. I later found that their 

 " Red Pop " is the male Painted Bunting or Nonpareil, while 

 their " Green Pop " is the female of this species. And the 

 " Blue Pop " is the male Indigo Bunting. 



Then they told me about the " Big Caille " — (pronounced 

 Big Ki) — the game bird par excellence — a bird that feeds 

 upon the magnolia seeds ; a bird whose flesh some of the most 

 famous French chefs had pronounced the finest eating in the 

 world. And then there was the " Little Caille " and the 

 " Black Caille," both shot along with the " Big Caille," but 

 the flesh of the " Big Caille " surpassed them all. From the 

 descriptions given me I decided that this " Big Caille " must 

 surely be one of our Thrushes, and I later found this to be 

 correct. The " Big Caille " — the most famed of all the game 

 birds — is none other than the Wood Thrush. I have always 

 heard the Wood Thrush praised, but never before from this 

 standpoint. I have heard the Wood Thrush proclaimed the 

 finest songster in North America. No doubt with us this 

 species ranks foremost in esthetic value. To many of us 

 northern folks it is indeed the bird of birds. It is perhaps 

 the very last bird we would care to slaughter. But down in 

 the country around Mandeville they love the " Big Caille " — 

 when he is browned just right and served upon the table. 

 And there is perhaps more hard feeling against the Depart- 

 ment of Conservation for prohibiting the killing of the Wood 

 Thrush than there is about the protection of any other bird. 

 But we nuTSt remember that these southern folks never hear 

 the Wood Thrush sing. They only know him as a silent bird 

 of the woods that arrives in flocks sometime in September, 

 at which time he is feeding mostly upon a vegetable diet. It 



