36 THE FLUSHER. 



brown, slightly shading into grey on the upper part of the neck 

 and rump ; there is a scarcely visible shade of white on the 

 back and shoulders ; the forehead and above the eyes is yellow- 

 ish, the cheeks brown, the throat and belly dirty white ; the 

 under parts of the neck, breast, and sides, are yellowish white, 

 crossed with waving brown lines ; the quill feathers are dark 

 brown, the outer ones edged with white, the others to the four 

 centre ones have only a white spot ; the tail dark brown, with 

 some shades of orange. 



HABITATION. When wild it is one of the latest birds of passage, as it 

 does not arrive till May. It is sometimes found in woody valleys where 

 cattle graze, more commonly in hedges, and fields with bushes in them, or 

 in inclosed pastures where horses and cows are kept. It is one of the first 

 migratory birds to depart, which it does in August, in families, even before 

 the young ones have moulted. 



In the house, it must be treated like the former, and kept in a wire 

 cage, for it would soon kill its companions, as I experienced some years 

 ago. The bird I refer to had been three days without eating, although I had 

 given him a great variety of dead birds and insects. On the fourth day I 

 set him at liberty in the room, supposing him too weak to hurt the other 

 birds, and thinking that he would become better accustomed to his new 

 food if I left him at liberty. Hardly was he set free than he seized and 

 killed a duunock before I had time to save it ; I let him eat it, and then 

 put him back into the cage. From this time, as if his fury were satisfied, 

 he ate all that was given him. 



FOOD In its wild state, it eats large quantities of beetles, maybugs, 



crickets, and grasshoppers, but it prefers breeze-flies, and other insects 

 which teaze the cattle. It impales as many of these insects as it can catch 

 for its meal on the thorns of bushes. If, during a long continuance of 

 rain, these insects disappear, it then feeds on field-mice, lizards, and young 

 birds, which it also fixes on the thorns. 



When confined, its food is the same as the preceding species. Some in- 

 sects, mixed with the nightingales' paste, make it more palatable for it. A 

 little raw or dressed meat may also be given it from time to time. 



BREEDING. When the season is favourable this species breeds twice, 

 and generally chooses a large hawthorn bush in which to build its nest, roots 

 and coarse stubble forming the base of it, then a layer of moss interwoven 

 with wool, and the finest fibres of roots lining the interior. The female 

 lays from five to six greenish white eggs, spotted all over, especially at the 

 large end, and speckled with red and grey ; the male takes his turn with 

 the female to sit during fourteen days. Before moulting, the young ones 

 resemble the female in colour. The back and breast are greenish grey, 

 streaked with several waving brown lines ; the belly is dirty white. They 

 can be easily reared by feeding them at first with ants' eggs, then with 

 dressed meat, and afterwards with white bread soaked in milk : this last 

 food it always likes if early accustomed to it. 



