A BIRDLOVER'S YEAR 



or clay, into which rotten wood is sometimes 

 wrought. In this neat cradle are deposited 

 the four or five eggs of pale greenish-blue 

 colour, thickly marked with deep brown 

 spots. 



The song thrush's diet is a varied one, 

 insects of all kinds being eaten, as well as 

 earthworms, slugs, and snails. One often 

 comes across quantities of broken snail 

 shells which have been split open by this 

 bird striking them vigorously against a 

 stone ; these stones are sometimes called 

 " thrushes' anvils," the bird using the same 

 stone time after time. It must also be 

 admitted that the thrush is a great eater of 

 fruit, both wild and cultivated. 



For a long time the song thrush was 

 thought to be a purely resident bird in the 

 British Isles, but this belief has been dis- 

 proved, and it is the migrations of the song 

 thrush which concern us here. These migra- 

 tions are of a varied nature, for the thrush 

 is a partial migrant. Some individuals in 

 certain localities spend the year in our 

 islands ; others only pass the summer with 

 us. Again, certain thrushes visit us in 

 winter only, others leave our shdres during 

 14 



