S3S THIS THRUSH. 



woods, but its voice is thought rather too loud tor a 

 cage ; it whistles during the whole of spring and sum- 

 mer, and though black with us, upon the Alps it is fre- 

 quently seen white. It lays four or five bluish eggs 

 in a nest plastered with straw and clay, generally at 

 the stump of some old hawthorn tree. 



The blue-bird is a native of the Alps, and resembles 

 the blackbird in the sweetness of its notes, though it 

 is more docile, and soon becomes tame ; for, if waked 

 at midnight, it will begin to speak or whistle, if com- 

 manded to do so by any well-known voice. About the 

 beginning of winter its feathers change, and it becomes 

 black instead of a beautiful blue : it resides in the 

 highest parts of rocks and precipices, and forms its 

 nest in a very deep hole. It never produces more than 

 four or five young ; and for its beauty and sweetness 

 is universally admired. 



The fieldfare and redwing are but transitory visitants, 

 and in this country are stupid and insipid birds ; though 

 in northern climates they are known to sing very sweet 

 and melodious strains : they build their nests in hedges ; 

 and their eggs are a bluish green, spotted with black. 



The stare is distinguished from the rest of this tribe 

 by the hue of the feathers changing from glossy green 

 to purple, according to the light in which the bird is 

 placed : the voice of the stare is rougher than the two 

 former, but with the greatest facility it is taught to speak : 

 it forms its nest in hollow trees, eaves of houses, towers, 

 and rocks; and in winter they assemble in very large 

 flocks, and seem fond of associating together in a tribe : 

 in spring greater part of them leave the country, whilst 

 the rest remain here and breed up their young. 



It is impossible to describe the variety of foreign 

 birds which might be included in the thrush kind, the 



