THE CAVE-DWELLING FAMILY 41 
young thrashers, the old birds called together 
quite an army of birds to help defend them. 
There were at least fifty birds of many kinds, 
all flying around his head, screaming at him 
and trying to pick at his eyes. The boy was 
ashamed, and put back the little ones, glad to 
get away with his eyes safe. 
A Western bird, the Arizona thrasher, builds 
a nest in the middle of a cactus so full of sharp 
thorns like fine needles that it is a wonder how 
the birds can get into it. They pull off the 
thorns to make a passage, but the nestlings do 
sometimes get caught and die there. They must, 
however, be safe from most enemies. One pair 
that Mr. Palmer tells about built a regular hall- 
way of sticks six or eight inches long. 
All the birds of this family have great indi- 
viduality ; that is, no two are alike. The better 
you know birds, the more you will see that they 
do not act, or sing, or even look exactly alike. 
That is one reason why they are so interesting 
to study. 
