THE REED THRUSH. 205 



ou the inside; the iris is dark maroon. The shanks are ac 

 inch high, strong, and brownish gray, blending into flesh- 

 colour. This bird is so like the nightingale, that if the tail 

 were reddish it would be mistaken for it. The top of the head 

 and neck are dark gray , with a light olive tint ; a line of dusky 

 yellow extends above the eyes from the nostrils to the middle ; 

 the cheeks are brownish gray ; the back and the coverts of the 

 wings reddish gray, which becomes lighter, and passes at the 

 rump into pure rust-colour. 



The female differs from the male only hi being smaller, 

 rather darker on the upper, and lighter on the lower parts of 

 the body ; the white of the throat is less extensive, and the 

 upper part of the head is tinged with red, 



HABITATION. When wild it is found all over Europe, with the excep- 

 tion of the most northern parts ; it is a stranger in those parts of Germany 

 only where there are neither lakes, ponds, nor stagnant rivers abounding 

 with rushes ; for it is always on their banks and in large swamps that it 

 resides, and more frequently on the ground than in trees *. 



In confinement it is provided with a nightingale's cage. 



FOOD. When wild it feeds on aquatic insects, the enormous multitude 

 of which it seems intended to diminish. In order to catch these it is con- 

 tinually seen climbing the stems of the rushes and reeds : it also eats 

 berries. 



In confinement, hitherto, no food but that of the nightingale has succeeded 

 with it, and that even for only four or six months. It is soon attacked by 

 a disease which carries off great numbers of whitethroats : the feathere 

 falling off without being renewed, the bird declines and dies of atrophy f. 



BREEDING. The nest is found fastened with wool to the stems of the 

 rushes, or the branches of neighbouring bushes. On the outside it is 

 formed of moss and stubble, firmly mixed, and lined on the inside with fine 

 hay and hair. The eggs, five or six in number, are grayish white, spotted 

 with blsfk. The young, before the first moulting, have the appearance of 

 a whitethroat, with some dark spots on the breast. They are taken from 

 the nest and reared, like young nightingales, on ants' eggs ; and if they are 

 placed near this winged Orpheus, they learn his song so well and so per- 

 fectly that they become as excellent performers as their masters, with the 

 additional advantage of possessing a noise more flute-like and less shrill than 

 that of the nightingale. 



* It is not found in Britain. TRANSLATOR. 



f The food of the caged nightingale is probably not sufficiently nutritious for the 

 reed thrush ; no doubt, also, it injures the stomach ; perhaps the number of meal- 

 worms with which it is supplied should be increased ; and small beetles should be 

 offered to it, whose wing-cases and claws, not being digested by the insectivorous 

 bird, serve to purge the stomach ; its food, in short, should resemble as much as pos- 

 lible that of its natural condition. TRANSLATOR. 



