BIRDS OF PEASEMARSH 



unobserved you may hear this sweet call to the 

 mate on the nest. Some members of the 

 Thrush family are rare here, and being so shy 

 and retiring they are easily alarmed. As in- 

 sect destroyers they are very valuable, their 

 food consisting largely of caterpillars when 

 small, and the grubs found on the ground or 

 just under the earth. Unfortunately none of 

 these Thrushes are at all numerous. They are 

 going with the clearing away of the woods, 

 their cool and quiet nesting places. 



The remaining members of the family, the 

 Robin and the Bluebird, are not so retiring. 

 The Bluebird, the Thrush that nests in hollow 

 trees, was mentioned in the chapter on birds 

 that nest in that way. Of all the Thrush family 

 the Robin is the best known, the old stand- 

 by. Not easily alarmed and able to endure the 

 cold of early spring, it never fails to come, with 

 its bright breast and its cheery note, to our 

 very door announcing the coming of spring. 

 Though not a song bird, it is so cheerful and 

 familiar that we do not miss the music. What 

 would a summer be without the bright "red 

 breasts" hopping about on the short grass of 

 the lawn, stopping now and then to dig out a 

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