392 THE THKUSH FAMILY 



The only other member of the genus Turdus which has been said 

 to feign injury is the ring-ouzel. Seebohm writes of it reeling and 

 tumbling on the ground to decoy its enemy away. Commenting on 

 this, another observer states that he has never seen the bird do 

 more than " flutter for a few yards in a lazy sort of fashion over the 

 tops of the heather." There we may leave the matter until further 

 evidence is forthcoming. 1 



Whether the ring-ouzel feign or not, it is certainly remarkably 

 bold in defence of its young, flying at the intruder with angry, 

 discordant notes, circling round him, perching on some rock to hurl 

 abuse at him, its tail jerked erect, its wings impatiently flicking, and, 

 if the young or nest are too closely approached, giving him the wind 

 of its pinions, almost striking him, and sometimes indeed actually 

 doing so, even to the extent of knocking off his cap. 2 A mistle- 

 thrush has also been seen to fly at and strike a boy who was 

 climbing to its nest. 3 When its nestlings are approached, the 

 song-thrush will frequently snap its mandibles, and has been known 

 to peck. I have seen it also puff out the breast feathers, hump the 

 back, and lower the head make itself big, in fact. This it accom- 

 panied by its note of alarm, ptick ! ptick ! It is interesting to note 

 that the puffing out of the feathers is used by the thrush to express 

 feelings not only of anger but of love. 4 



Young thrushes have many enemies. The worst is without doubt 

 the domestic cat, who not only claws them out of the nest, but 

 stalks them when fledged. They are persecuted also by crows, jays, 

 magpies, hawks, owls, dogs, foxes, squirrels, the weasel tribe, rats, 

 snakes, boys, and bird-catchers. If heavy continuous rain falls 

 during the breeding season, many young are drowned in the nest. 

 Occasionally the weaker nestlings are pushed to the bottom of the 

 nest, and die under the feet of their brothers and sisters. In fact the 



1 Seebohm, British Birds, i. p. 248 ; Zoologist, 1901, p. 28 (E. P. Butterfleld). 



2 Forrest, Fauna of North Wales, in which an instance is given of the intruder's cap being 

 knocked off by the cock, as the former was bending over the nest. 



3 F. C. R. Jourdain (in litt.). " See p. 362. 



