4 



THE YOUNG ORNITHOLOGIST 



three years ago, a mounted specimen 

 of this species that had been shot at 

 that place, it having found among the 

 evergreens, and other thick under- 

 wood, that fringe the Grand and 

 Irvin rivers, a congenial home. At 

 Hyde Park, Mr. Marden says, "it is 

 very locally distributed ; frequenting 

 low scrub, and hazel thickets, breed- 

 ing in brush heaps, bushes, and on 

 the ground impartially. Hamilton 

 it also frequents, and Mr. Allan 

 refers to it as common in the vicinity 

 of Toronto. Perched on the topmost 

 twig of some tall oak ; the Golden 

 Thrush, on a fine May morning, pours 

 forth for an hour at a time its me- 

 lodious song ; the richest, and most 

 varied in its notes of all the song- 

 sters of the grove. None who has 

 once heard it, and listened to its cad- 

 ence, so full of sweetness and melody, 

 but would for ever scout the assertion, 

 so often made by those who know 

 little of our Canadian birds, that they 

 are destitute of song. With the ex- 

 ception of some European species, 

 there are few birds whose vocal pow- 

 ers can compare with those of this 

 thrush. Its food consists of insects, 

 worms, berries and fruit of all sorts ; 

 and, like the Robin and the Cat Bird, 

 it is very partial to the neighborhood 

 of our gardens, when the cherries 

 and the strawberries are ripe. But 

 an occasional dessert at the gardener's 

 expense need not be grudged them, 

 when it it is borne in mind the great 

 number of insects of different kinds 

 which they destroy, and which, if left 

 to increase without a check, would 

 prove a thousand times more destruc- 

 tive to our gardens and orchards. 

 The nest of this Thrush is g-enerallv 



placed in some thicket or bramble 

 patch, and composed externally of 

 dry twigs, imbedded in and mixed 

 vritli dry leaves and coarse grass, 

 and thickly lined with fibrous roots 

 and horse-hair. 



The eggs are from four to six in 

 number, of a pale buff colour, thickly 

 sprinkled with dots of brown. Few 

 birds are more courageous in defend- 

 ing their nest tlian they, and they do 

 not hesitate to fly even in the face of 

 man himself if he be the intruder." 

 "At no time," says Mr. Gentry, "is 

 this bird gregarious, in the strict sense 

 of the word. It arrives singly and 

 departs as it caine. When the breed- 

 ing period is over, the ties which 

 bound the sexes become dissolved? 

 and an overweening love for self tri- 

 umphs over every other feeling. The 

 period of departure varies with me- 

 teorological and dietetic changes. An 

 abundance of food-stuffs prolongs its 

 stay, while a paucity, on the otlier 

 hand, perceptibly diminishes it. Or- 

 dinarily its retirement takes place in 

 the early part of October." 



Insect powder strewn around and on 

 birds' skins is recommended as a pre- 

 ventative against insects. 



A skeleton of the gigantic bird call- 

 ed the Dinorius of New Zealand, the 

 disappearance of which dates back but 

 a little time, was over eighteen feet 

 high. 



A complaint has arisen from sports- 

 men that snipe are not as plenty as 

 usual this year owing to the late fashion 

 of using their skins to ornament ladies 

 hats. 



