620 JHRDS. 



liberty. From time to time they lined the walls of the aviary 

 with green branches and leaves, that the birds might still fancy 

 themselves in the midst of the grove. Thus they were accustomed, 

 by degrees, to captivity ; they were slaves kindly treated by their 

 master, because he understood his own interest. This account of 

 Roman epicurism is attested both by Columella and Varro ; and, 

 from their relations, Buffon has compiled a very curious history of 

 the ancient aviaries of the Romans. 



An improvement upon this practice of the Romans is said to be 

 invented in modern times, and applied to practice in some pro- 

 vinces of France, where the inhabitants fasten earthen pots among 

 the branches of trees, which the thrushes frequent. In these the 

 birds find a convenient shelter from the weather without losing 

 their liberty ; and hence they seldom fail to prefer them to nests 

 of their own construction. Partly from the security afforded to 

 the young in these pots, and partly from the great saving of labour 

 to the parent birds, who are thus enabled to bring up two families 

 every year, thrushes have been found to multiply greatly under 

 this mode of treatment. When the birds are not thus aided by 

 the art of man, their nests are finished with great difficulty and 

 labour. Outwardly they are constructed of moss, straw, and 

 dried leaves; and in the inside they are overlaid with a thick 

 plaister of baked clay and hair. Some kinds are not even satisfied 

 with this, but garnish the inside still farther with feathers of va- 

 rious kinds. 



Thrushes are in general grave and melancholy. Their innate 

 love of liberty is not easily overcome by domestication. Seldom 

 are they seen to fight, sport, or play with each other, in their na- 

 tural state, and far less in a state of captivity, which they never 

 relish. Some of these birds, however, become excellent songsters 

 by education ; and the throstle has, in several instances, added to 

 the talent of music that of speech. Such, at least, is the account 

 given by Pliny of a thrush tamed by the empress Agrippina. 



1. Missel^ or Missel-bird. 



Turdus viscivorus. Linn. 



Back brown ; neck spotted with white ; bill yellowish. Eleven 

 inches long ; builds in bushes or on the side of some trees ; and 

 lays four or five eggs. Sings finely in the spring, sitting on the 



