BRITISH SONG BIRDS. 303 



front have wicker rails in place of wires, which are strengthened by 

 passing through horizontal bars of wood ; the water and food are put 

 into the two little boxes at the sides, and there is a drawer in the 

 bottom for the greater cleanliness ; a little pan of water should be 

 often put into the cage, as this bird is very fond of amusing itself in 

 a bath. If the bird is unwell, a large spider and a few wood-lice will 

 be a good diet for it ; and a small quantity of cochineal in the water 

 will also prove very serviceable, and make him gay and brisk. Hog 

 lice are also considered excellent restoratives, but they should be ad- 

 ministered with discretion, lest the bird's appetite for other food is 

 taken away by having a superabundance of such (to its taste) deli- 

 cious fare. The natural note of this bird is pleasing, but it sounds 

 better in the open air than in a room, as there are many noisy 

 tones intermingled with the others, which interrupt the flowing 

 character of the melody. Blackbirds may be taught to whistle 

 tunes and repeat short sentences, in the same manner as the 

 bulfinch ; indeed, they are preferred by many persons to that bird, 

 as their acquired note is particularly musical. They are never kept 

 in aviaries, for when shut up with other birds, they plague and 

 harass them incessantly ; there may be exceptions, but this is the 

 case generally. The blackbird never forsakes us, but stays with 

 us all the year round, and we think that if only for filling the air 

 with such sweet music as he does, while even winter still reigns, 

 often in all his gloom and chilliness, the sportsmen ought to spare 

 pretty "golden bill." A man who would shoot at a blackbird while 

 it is singing would, we think, hardly refrain from pointing his gun 

 at a little lonely child in a solitary green lane. 



THE THRUSH. 



The thrush, or throstle, is the 

 " sweet mavis of our old ballad 

 lore," and under the latter name is 

 often alluded to by our early poets, 

 who tell us what pleasure they felt 

 in wandering through the " green- 

 wood shaw to hear the merle and ; 

 mavis sing." It even commences 

 singing earlier than the blackbird, 

 and when the weather is a little 

 mild may often be heard in January. 

 It frequently begins to build before 

 there is a leaf out on either hedge or bush, and, as if aware that 

 its young when hatched may have a good deal of cold weather to 

 contend against, it plasters its nest with a thick coating of mud, 

 which when dry defies the wind to find an entrance. It is a very 

 handsome bird to look at, with its beautifully speckled breast, to say 

 nothing of the rich fulness and sweetness of its song, which may be 

 heard throughout the summer, and particularly at the grey dawn of 

 morning and in the still evening twilight. Its bill is dusky; eyes 

 hazel ; the lesser coverts of its wings and its back and head of a deep 



