64 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 95 



THE ANNALS OF THREE TAME HERMIT 

 THRUSHES. 



BY CORDELIA J. STAN WOOD. 



When I took the nest in Linscott's Meadow containing the 

 three young Thrushes, and was about to put it in my basket, 

 the bottom of the nest fell out (Aug. 17, 1909, 9 a. m.). After 

 a hasty examination of the nest, which was abnormal in some 

 respects, I tossed the rim away, covered the little birds in the 

 basket, and hurried from the neighborhood. The mother 

 bird still called softly in the distance, chuck .'chuck! Her re- 

 monstrances were few and gentle, however. 



I had come to the conclusion that in order to make a suc- 

 cessful study of young birds, a person needed to take two, at 

 least. One would serve as a companion and mirror for the 

 other. They would be less timid of their kind when returned 

 to th^ woods, and less inclined to become pets ; I hoped, also, 

 to secure a singer. 



The birds were small, and the third, a particularly fragile 

 little thing. The fact that they were a second or third broofl 

 of the season may have accounted for their apparent lack of 

 vitality. 



It was a hard journey of six miles or more from my home 

 to the nest and back again. The nest, as I intimated in the 

 beginning, was peculiar. I felt that I would like to examine 

 it, and yet that I could not return for that purpose. The 

 smallest bird I would like to have dispensed with, but he was 

 too immature to drive from the nest. I decided to take all 

 the birds and the nest for further study, when the nest col- 

 lapsed. Thus it was that I set out from Linscott's Meadow 

 with three little Thrushes in my basket. 



The nestlings showed no signs of fear. I was adopted for 

 a mother by them from the time of my interference. They 

 ate grasshoppers ravenously, and went to sleep on being fed. 

 On the way home they partook of from twelve to fifteen 

 grasshoppers and twelve blueberries. 



The tail feathers were started, many bits of quill casings 



