THE SINGERS 53 



the birds are full of ardour and jealous anger. When 

 once rival thrushes, male birds probably though the 

 females can fight too, I doubt not fall out seriously, 

 they may meet and fight several times a day. The 

 song thrush, though it can be tamed and persuaded 

 to come indoors and take food from the table, is 

 naturally a deeply suspicious bird, like the redwing. 

 It can hardly take two pecks at a worm on a grass 

 plot, or strike its snail twice on the highway, without 

 glancing about warily. Thus, thrushes will often stop 

 their duelling to look around, as if fearful of other 

 and more dangerous foes. We must keep very still 

 when close to thrushes fighting. The duellists stand 

 and face each other, about a yard apart, quite still 

 for a quarter of a minute, or so ; then, as if impelled 

 at the same second by the same agency, both spring 

 into the air a foot or two; their heads, or at least 

 their beaks, touch, and there are sharp clicking 

 sounds that can be heard twenty yards away. Each 

 spring and assault is quickly over, and between the 

 rounds the fighters face each other, watchful, venge- 

 ful. Nothing seems to come of these duels. After 

 a few rounds, they exchange fight for food ; perhaps, 

 at the very moment a spring seems imminent, a 

 morsel of food is seen by one of the birds, and the 

 fight is done. 



But in the spring I have seen a curious, cruel- 

 looking form of fight between two song thrushes. It 

 was on short grass. The birds, instead of standing 



