AMERICAN THRUSHES. 13 



gust, this bird begins to moult or shed his old 

 and worn out feathers, to be replaced by new. 

 (Of this general law of nature among the feather- 

 ed tribe, I will speak more fully hereafter.) The 

 sooner this takes place the better ; for when it is 

 retarded until the weather gets cool, it is apt to 

 be protracted ; and sometimes the new feathers 

 come out twisted, and not smooth, which is very 

 annoying, as it spoils the appearance of the bird, 

 if not his song. If there is no appearance of the 

 bird beginning to shed his feathers about this 

 time, give him plenty of ripe berries. I have 

 found by experience, that this food hastens the 

 operation, and it is highly necessary, both for the 

 health and beauty of the bird, that it should 

 moult early. 



Give your bird water in a shoal vessel, every 

 morning, to wash. This bird is not so fond of 

 bathing as some other birds. When I have had 

 a bird that did not use the bath, I have put near 

 him a bird that washed regularly, every morn- 

 ing, and it has had the desired effect of inducing 

 him to do likewise. Keep plenty of gravel in 

 the bottom of your cage. 



As female birds generally have no song, and 

 in procuring singing birds it is highly important 

 to know how to distinguish the male from the 



