138 



HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



ousel, and the water-ouzel. These are th 

 largest of the sparrow-kind, and may be dis- 

 tinguished from all others of this class, as wel 

 by their size, which is well known, as by their 



thrushes and blackbirds have been united in the sam 

 genus, according to the generic characters common t( 

 both. 



Four species of the thrush live in our climates : th 

 thrush properly so called, the missel, the redwing, am 

 the fieldfare. The two former pass the entire year ii 

 France, and also in the southern parts of this country, 

 They have a very agreeable song, especially the thrush 

 proper, which is also called the song-thrush and mavis 

 Dr Latham seems to think that this bird shifts its 

 quarters in winter, in the north of England and Scot- 

 land. It probably leaves the country, or retires to the 

 thick and solitary woods. Both these species are distin- 

 guished by never uniting in flocks for the purposes ol 

 migration. Their plumage has many traits of conformity 

 in colour and distribution. 



The redwings and fieldfares seldom appear among us 

 until autumn, remain during the winter, and live in 

 large flocks. They scarcely ever nestle here, and de- 

 part in spring, as they arrived in autumn, in numerou 

 assemblages. As they quit us at the epoch of pairing, 

 we are not acquainted with their love-notes. Often, 

 previously to their departure, they are heard chirping all 

 together, but in this loud noisy concert it would be vain 

 to seek for harmony. 



In all the species the males and females are of the 

 same size, and their livery is pretty similar. The co- 

 lours, however, are more lively and better defined in the 

 males. Berries, fruit, and insects constitute the food of 

 all. To these aliments they join earth-worms, in the 

 pursuit of which they are observed to be very eager after 

 rain. They also f$ed on snails, which, during winter, 

 they seek in those places most exposed to the sun. 



Their flesh is excellent for eating, especially that of 

 the thrush, and the redwing when fat. In the vintage 

 time, in the southern countries, it especially acquires 

 that delicacy and .exquisite flavour which occasion this 

 small game to be, much sought after by gourmands. 

 Among the Romany it was in high esteem. It is said 

 to possess qualities which, if real, should render it still 

 more estimable. It, excites, says its eulogizers, the ap- 

 petite, fortifies the stomach, improves the juices, and is 

 easy of digestion. It is, therefore, considered as pecu- 

 liarly wholesome for convalescent subjects. It never 

 produces any bad effect, provided it be not eaten to ex- 

 cess. It has been also thought in medicine to be an ex- 

 cellent anti-epileptic; this quality it is said to derive 

 from the bird feeding on mistletoe, to which the same 

 virtue has been .attributed. 



It may not be unamusing to our readers to notice the 

 manner in which the Romans, with whom thrushes held 

 4he first rank among the feathered game, preserved these 

 birds throughout the entire year, and fattened them in 

 their extensive aviaries. 



Each of these contained many thousands of thrushes, 

 blackbirds, and other birds good for eating. They were 

 so numerous in the neighbourhood of Rome, that thrush's 

 dung was employed as manure to fertilize the land. It 

 was also employed to fatten oxen and pigs. The thrushes 

 were kept very closely confined, and considerably crowded. 

 But their food was abundant and well chosen, and they 

 grew fat rapidly. These aviaries were vaulted pavilions, 

 furnished within with a great quantity of roosts. The 

 doors were very low, there were but few windows, and 

 always so turned, that the prisoners could see neither the 

 woods nor country, nor even the birds which hovered 

 outside, so that nothing might hinder them from growing 

 fat. They were only left as much light as was necessary 

 lo enable them to distinguish what they chiefly wanted. 



bills, which are a little bending at the point , 

 a small notch near the end of the upper chap ; 

 and the outmost toe adhering as far as the first 

 joint of the middle toe. To this tribe may be 



They were fed with millet, which was peeled and pounded 

 and formed into a kind of paste with bruised fies 

 and flour; besides which they received berries of the 

 mastic-tree, of myrtle, and of ivy, and every thing 

 which could render their flesh succulent and high fla- 

 voured. A small rivulet of running water traversed the 

 aviary, for them to drink from. Those which were in- 

 tended to be eaten in succession, received for twenty 

 days before they were taken for that purpose an augmen- 

 tation of the best nutriment. Particular care was taken 

 to make such as seemed fit for the table pass very quietly 

 into a particular place which communicated with the 

 aviary, and they were not taken until the communication 

 had been closely shut, to prevent the others from being 

 disturbed. To make them support their captivity with 

 greater patience, the aviary was carpeted with green 

 branches, and fresh turf, often renewed, and in fact, the 

 better the proprietor understood his own interests the 

 better the birds were treated. This method succeeded 

 almost invariably in taming birds, however recently they 

 might have been imprisoned. Those, however, which 

 had been newly taken were kept for some time in small 

 separate aviaries ; and the better to accustom them to 

 captivity, they were given as companions those who had 

 been already habituated to their prison. 



On the approach of vintage time innumerable flocks of 

 thrushes quit the northern regions of Lapland and Sibe- 

 ria, and their abundance is so great on the southern coast 

 of the Baltic, that Klein assures us that the city ol 

 Dantzic alone consumes every year eighty thousand pairs 

 of them. The different species do not all arrive at the 

 same time. The thrushes proper, or the song-thrushes, 

 make their appearance first, then come the redwings, and 

 inally the fieldfares and missels. They stop in various 

 slaces, especially where they find the most abundant food, 

 nd the most easily obtained. They thus continue their 

 route southward, arrive in certain countries sooner or 

 ater, in greater or less numbers according to the direc- 

 :ion of the winds and the changes of temperature. Tin's 

 s universally the case with all the birds which are driven 

 rom the north, by the severity of the weather. Of the 

 migratory thrushes, some nestle in the islands of the 

 VIediterranean, and others continue their course even 

 nto Africa. They arrive, Sonnini tells us, in Egypt in 

 he month of October, and do not leave that country 

 until March. They remain at no great distance from 

 abitations, and seek the shades of the orange and citron 

 proves which adorn some districts of Lower Egypt. 

 They dp not all, however, proceed so far south. Many 

 emain during the winter in our more northern climates, 

 vhere tolerably numerous flocks of redwings and field- 

 ares are to be seen during this season. They frequent 

 he meadows, and the green borders of woods, of which 

 hey quit the interior. 



There are more snares laid, perhaps, for thrushes thaij 

 or any other birds, and the pursuit of them is very pro- 

 itable. Those which are most easily taken in snares 

 n- nooses are the song-thrush and the redwing. These 

 nares are, as every body knows, composed of a few 

 orsehairs twisted together and forming a running knot. 

 They are set around juniper trees, &c., in the neigh- 

 )ourhood of some fountain or pond. If the snares are 

 roperly set, in a well-chosen place, many hundreds of 

 brushes may be caught in a day, while they are on their 

 assage. Snares are also employed baited with different 

 :inds of berries, and placed along the hedges. Thrushes 

 re also caught in nets. The net should always be 

 laced as nearly as possible on the side on which the 

 vind blows upon the hedges and bushes ; for it is ob- 



