THE THRUSH GENUS 351 



Our Thrushes find by far the greater part of their food upon the 

 ground. There is no more familiar sight than the song-thrush, when 

 thus engaged, standing on the lawn, erect, its spotted breast con- 

 spicuous, its attitude all attention. It suddenly makes a short run, 

 bends forward, head on one side as shown in Plate 35, and, if its 

 investigation proves satisfactory, pounces upon its prey with a quaint 

 little jump, drags it out of the ground, and swallows it at one gulp. 

 It does not, of course, behave each time in exactly the same way ; 

 it does not, for instance, always run between the pauses ; it may hop, 

 or it may run and hop, and it may indeed adopt all three methods 

 after consecutive pauses, quite regardless of the ornithologist's dis- 

 like of the unsystematic. But the end and the beginning are always 

 the same the erect, attentive attitude, and the final assault. 



If the bird succeeds in hauling out a long worm too large to 

 swallow whole, its general practice is to cut it up by pecking. The 

 process takes some time, and I have seen a thrush relieve the tedium 

 by taking a few impatient hops about, carrying, for the sake of com- 

 pany, a section of the worm in its bill, after which it laid it down 

 upon the grass, wiped its beak, and again set to work. Smaller worms 

 are either instantly swallowed, or, if intended for the young, coiled 

 round the beak, or folded between the mandibles, without, however, 

 too much regard for appearances, a loose end or two being allowed 

 to dangle with a careless and agile grace. A second, a third, and 

 possibly more, with an insect or two, are added, the additions being 

 often made without disturbing the worms already in position. With 

 its beak thus agreeably festooned and fringed the bird flies off, and, 

 if it be the cock, alights perhaps before reaching the nest, to sing a 

 snatch or two, its voice being but little incommoded by the victims 

 it thus compels to listen to their funeral march, before it bears them 

 living to their living tombs. 



Occasionally I have noted a thrush pull up a worm and leave it 

 lying. In one instance, a second thrush on seeing the discarded 

 worm, ran up, seized, and bore it off. Thereupon the first, moved 



