532 REPTILES AND BIRDS. 
hesitate to rank them far above those of the Nightingale. In addition 
to this, it possesses the wonderful faculty of imitating the songs of | 
other birds, and even the cries of the mammals which make their 
abode near it. For this reason the Indians call it the “ bird with 
four hundred tongues.” Being protected by the inhabitants of 
Louisiana, it does not seem to dread the presence of man, and builds 
its nest with the utmost publicity in the vicinity of dwellings. When 
it is captured before leaving the nest it becomes very tame. 
Fig. 242,—The Song Thrush. 
The principal species of the AZerulzde, with freckled breasts, are 
the Song Thrush, the Redwing, the Mistletoe, and the Fieldfare. 
The Song Thrush, Mavis of the Scotch (Zurdus musicus, Fig. 242), 
has enjoyed, from ancient times, great reputation, not, as we might 
have preferred, for its vocal powers, but for the delicacy of its flesh. 
The Romans appreciated these birds to such a degree that they were 
in the habitof fattening them by thousands in immense aviaries, cleverly 
combining the privation of light with a suitable temperature. Nowa- 
days Thrushes are not fattened artificially, because they take very good 
care to fatten themselves in their autumnal wanderings, for they gorge 
themselves to such an extent with grapes, figs, and olives, and other 
fruits peculiar to southern countries, that they attain an incredible 
state of obesity, causing them to be sought after with avidity, to 
