6 Owen, A Captive Hermit Thrush. Y]t^ 



house flies, to which, when phiced in its cage, dead or disabled, it 

 helped itself. Later it developed considerable skill as a flycatcher 

 and no insect was safe within the wires of its cage. The bird's 

 predilection for pulling over paper grew on it. It was very amus- 

 ing to see it alight on my study table and essay, forthwith, to look 

 beneath each separate sheet of paper lying thereon. This habit I 

 took to be a display of instinct, which, exercised in the woods, 

 would lead the bird to overhaul leaves and other similar rubbish 

 in search of food. 



The behavior of the Thrush at various times gave me several 

 hints as to the habits of its species in the wild state. For example, 

 it ate most greedily in the morning and at night, thus corroborat- 

 ing the general testimony of observers that birds take a rest in 

 the middle of the day. Again, as dusk came on, the bird became 

 restless and fluttered about its cage so recklessly that, at times, I 

 was obliged to cover the cage with a cloth and set it in a dark 

 corner. After some study of the bird's movements, I was led to 

 attribute its unrest at evening to a desire for a high perch. To 

 test my inference, I one evening liberated the bird. It flew 

 about the study, close to the ceiling, and, finally, went to roost on 

 a high picture. This proved that I had, in fact, in these nightly 

 flutterings, an evidence of the instinct that leads birds to seek high 

 perching places, at night, as a safeguard against many dangers. 

 It struck me as especially interesting in the case of the Hermit 

 Thrush which builds its nest on the ground. 



My captive Thrush slept with its head under its wing, in the 

 orthodox fashion, and took occasional naps during the day. It 

 proved a meditative bird and would sit for half an hour at a time 

 with an air of deep abstraction. As it dozed on my study table, 

 June 30, I counted its respirations and found them to be from 80 

 to 85 per minute. When it is reflected that the rate of human 

 respiration ranges from about 44 at birth to 15 at maturity, the fact 

 that the bird is a high pressure organism may be appreciated. 



My Hermit Thrush belied its name by being very fond of 

 society. Occasionally, I allowed the bird the freedom of my 

 study. At such times it preferred to keep near my chair, often 

 alighting on my head, or on the table upon which I was writing. 

 It would allow itself to be held in the hand, but was rather ill at 



