224 OUR js'atrt: songsters. 



thick hedge or bush. Its form is like that of a 

 large cup, and the materials employed are the 

 coarse stalks of plants, moss and fibrous roots; 

 while the lining consists of a few hairs, and some fine 

 grasses. The eggs are four or five in number, pale 

 bluish white, spotted with brown and ash colour. 



The flusher sings its song in a continuous 

 strain, from the top of a bush, or on the bough of 

 a tree near its nest. It well imitates the notes of 

 other birds, mixing with its own some which it 

 bon'ows from the nightingale, goldfinch, or other 

 singers. In captivity, Bechstein says, it learns 

 quickly to whistle airs, but forgets them with 

 the same facility in order to learn new ones. He 

 says tliat it is a most lively bird, and that if taken 

 out of a cage, it will soon clear the room of flies. 

 It catches them while on the wing, and if a thorny 

 branch is given it, it will impale all the insects, 

 making at the same time the most droll and singular 

 movements. One, which he had in confinement, re- 

 fused the most tempting food, and on the fourth day 

 its owner, thinking it too weak to injure the other 

 birds, allowed it the liberty of flying about the room. 

 An unfortunate hedge-sparrow became, however, its 

 immediate victim, and after being put back again 



