194 MERULIDE. 



in spring, and continuing it at intervals till autumn. In ad- 

 dition to this great recommendation to favour, the bird is in- 

 offensive in habit, elegant in shape, sprightly in action, and 

 engaging by its confidence. It is a native of Europe gene- 

 rally, and resident throughout the year in all the more tem- 

 perate portions. It is not, like the Redwing, gregarious, but 

 is so distributed that scarcely any district not entirely desti- 

 tute of wood is found to be without it. It frequents more 

 particularly small woods, plantations, and shrubberies, seek- 

 ing its food in meadows, lawns, and gardens. It feeds on 

 insects, worms, various species of garden snails (the shells of 

 which are broken against a stone, and afterwards shaken off 

 with great dexterity), fruit, and, in the winter, various ber- 

 ries. In the grape countries of Europe, the Thrush feeds 

 luxuriously during autumn on ripe grapes ; and in France 

 this bird is in great request for the table at that time, from 

 the extra condition and flavour which abundance of this rich 

 food imparts to its flesh. 



White of Selborne considered it a rule, that whenever 

 there was incubation, there was music ; and the early spring 

 song of the Thrush is an equally true indication of an early- 

 breeder. The nest is frequently placed in the centre of a 

 thick and tall bush or shrub, sometimes in a holly or fir tree, 

 and occasionally this bird has been known to make its nest 

 in an open shed or tool-house. The nest formed externally 

 of green moss and fine roots ; the inner surface smooth and 

 compact, being lined with a thin coating of cowdung and 

 rotten wood, so equally spread over and cemented, that when 

 dry, it will, for a time, hold water ; and so much rain has been 

 found in a Thrush's nest in an exposed situation, as to have 

 induced the belief that the nest had been deserted as unte- 

 nantable. The eggs are usually four or five in number, of 

 a beautiful light blue colour, with a few small well-defined black 

 spots over the larger end : the length of the egg one inch one 



