100 PASSERES. TURDID^E 



took his share in the hatching ; but he did not 

 sit so long as the hen, and he often fed her while 

 she was upon the nest. In thirteen days the 

 young birds were out of the shells, which the 

 old ones always carried off."* 



Sir William Jardine records the following anec- 

 dote as illustrating the occasional familiarity and 

 unsuspecting confidence of this bird : (f In our 

 own garden, last spring (1837), a somewhat singu- 

 lar circumstance occurred. The nest [of a Song- 

 Thrush] was placed in a common laurel bush, 

 within easy reach of the ground, and being dis- 

 covered, was many times daily visited by the 

 younger branches of our family. It occurred to 

 some that the poor Thrush would be hungry with 

 a seat so constant, and a proposal was made to 

 supply the want. A good deal of difficulty oc- 

 curred, from the fear of disturbing her, but it was 

 at last proposed that the food should be tied on 

 the end of a stick ; this was done, and the bird 

 cautiously approached and took the first offering. 

 The stick was gradually shortened, and in a few 

 days the Thrush fed freely from the hand, until 

 the young were half fledged. After this, when 

 the parent was more frequently absent, a visit 

 would immediately bring both male and female, 

 who now uttered angry cries, and struck at the 

 hand when brought near the nest."f 



In 1833 a pair of Thrushes built their nest in a 

 low tree at the bottom of Gray's Inn Gardens, 

 near the gates, where passengers are going by all 

 day long. The hen laid her complement of eggs, 

 and was sitting on them, when a cat climbed up 



* Mag. of Nat. Hist. iii. 238. 

 t Nat. Lib. ORNITHOLOGY, ii. 93. 



