Stupidity Street 167 



And the "Blue Pop" is the male Indigo Bunting. 



Then they told me about the "Big Caille" 

 (pronounced Big Ki) the game bird par ex- 

 cellence a bird that feeds upon the magnolia 

 seeds; a bird whose flesh some of the most famous 

 French chefs had pronounced the finest eating in 

 the world. And then there was the "Little Caille" 

 and the "Black Caille," both shot along with the 

 "Big Caille," but the flesh of the "Big Caille" 

 surpassed them all. From the descriptions given 

 me I decided that this "Big Caille" must surely be 

 one of our Thrushes, and I later found this to be 

 correct. The "Big Caille" the most famed of 

 all the game birds is none other than the Wood 

 Thrush. I have always heard the Wood Thrush 

 praised but never from this standpoint. I have 

 heard the Wood Thrush proclaimed the finest 

 singer in North America. No doubt, with us, the 

 species ranks foremost in aesthetic value. To 

 many of us Northerners, it is indeed the bird of 

 birds. It is, perhaps, the last bird we would 

 care to slaughter. But down around Mandeville, 

 they love the "Big Caille" when browned just 

 right and served upon the table. And there is 

 perhaps more hard feeling against the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture for prohibiting the killing of 

 the Wood Thrush than there is about the protec- 

 tion of any other bird. 



The Olive-backed Thrushes are killed under the 



