THE BIRD OF SOLITUDE. 21 



forming his toilet, smoothing every perfect 

 plume, or sunning himself, puffed out like a 

 ball, with every feather on end. You may see 

 him, too, when suddenly his attention is ar- 

 rested by some movement or sound at the foot 

 of the tree, imperceptible to your coarser 

 senses ; and he dives off the branch, returning 

 instantly with a worm or grub, which he will 

 hold in his bill a long time, entirely undis- 

 turbed by its wriggles or struggles, till he 

 makes up his mind whether you mean mischief, 

 or have changed your position while he was en- 

 gaged. 



Then, too, you may sometimes chance upon 

 a scene of agitation even in the serene life of a 

 thrush. Following an unfamiliar call far away 

 from the path, in a lonely spot, I came once 

 upon a singular sight : six or eight thrushes 

 hopping about in the lower branches of a small 

 tree, in a way very unusual with them, giving 

 unceasing utterance to the sound I had heard, 

 a low, shuddering cry, and all with eyes fixed 

 upon the ground. Every moment or two one 

 would fly away, but its place was instantly 

 filled by another, so that the number in the 

 tree remained the same, and the strange cry 

 was never still. Nestlings were all out, so I 

 knew that it could be no accident to a little one 

 that thus aroused them, and I stole quietly 



