THE THRUSHES. 61 



of them are quite gay. The cock may be either exactly 

 like the hen, or more or less different ; the young are 

 generally spotted with buff, and look quite unlike their 

 parents. In this the Thrushes differ conspicuously from 

 the Babblers, which fledge off at once into a very similar 

 dress to that worn by the old birds. Otherwise Thrushes 

 and Babblers are much alike in general appearance, 

 though to anyone who has a little experience in observ- 

 ing birds, the coarse bill and feet, loose plumage, and very 

 short wings of the Babblers mark them off from their 

 more aristocratic relatives at first sight. Further 

 observation will show that Thrushes are usually surly 

 and solitary in contradistinction to the jolly sociability 

 of the others ; and that they never take hold of things 

 with their foot as Babblers do, but only use their bill in 

 breaking up a large insect. They are mainly insect- 

 eaters, but the large species also devour a considerable 

 amount of fruit. They are good fliers, many of them 

 being migratory, and fairly active on the ground, where 

 the smaller kinds hop, while the larger ones alternately hop 

 and run, unlike most other birds. They perch a great 

 deal in trees, and often build in them, but do not hop 

 about the branches very much, taking their food most 

 commonly on the ground. Their eggs vary a great deal 

 in colour, but are most often spotted. 



Thrushes of one kind and another are found all over 

 the world ; the Wheatear (Saxicola cenanthe), one of the 

 Chats, reaches the Arctic regions, while the remote island 

 of Tristan da Cunha in the Southern Ocean has a species 

 (Nesocichla eremita) all to itself. 



