THE THRUSHES. 61 
of them are quite gay. The cock may be either exactly 
like. the hen, or more or less different; the young are 
generally spotted with buff, and look quite unlike their 
parents. In this the Thrushes differ conspicuously from 
the Babblers, which fledge off at once into a very similar 
dress to that worn by the old birds. Otherwise Thrushes 
and Babblers are much alike in general appearance,. 
though to anyone who has a little experience in observ- 
ing birds, the coarse bill and feet, loose plumage, and 
very short wings of the Babblers mark them off from 
their more aristocratic relatives at first sight. Further 
observation will show that Thrushes are usually surly 
and solitary in contradistinction to the jolly sociability 
of the others; and that they never take hold of things 
with their foot as Babblers do, but only use their bill in 
breaking up a large insect. They are mainly insect- 
eaters, but the large species also devour a considerable 
amount of fruit. They are good fliers, many of them 
being migratory, and fairly active on the ground, where the 
smaller kinds hop, while the larger ones alternately hop 
and run, unlike most other birds. They perch a great 
deal in trees, and often build in them, but do not hop 
about the branches very much, taking their food most 
commonly on the ground. Their eggs vary a great deal 
in colour, but are most often spotted. 
Thrushes of one kind and another are found all over 
the world; the Wheatear (Sazicola cnanthe), one of the 
Chats, reaches the Arctic regions, while the remote island 
of Tristan da Cunha in the Southern Ocean has a species 
(Nesocichla eremita) all to itself. 
