SONG THRUSH. 203 
also continued through a large portion of the year, begin- 
ning early in spring, and continuing it at intervals till 
autumn. In addition to this great recommendation to 
favour, the bird is inoffensive in habit, elegant in shape, 
sprightly in action, and engaging by its confidence. It is 
a native of Europe generally, and resident throughout the 
year in all the more temperate portions. It is not, like 
the Redwing, gregarious, but is so distributed that scarcely 
any district not entirely destitute of wood is found to be 
without it. It frequents more particularly small woods, 
plantations, and shrubberies, seeking its food in meadows, 
lawns, and gardens. It feeds on insects, worms, various 
species of garden snail (the shells of which are broken 
against a stone, and afterwards shaken off with great 
dexterity), fruit, and, m the winter, various berries. In 
the grape countries of Kurope, the Thrush feeds luxuriously 
during autumn on ripe grapes; and im France this bird is 
im great request for the table at that time, from the extra 
condition and flavour which abundance of this rich food 
imparts to its flesh. 
White of Selborne considered it a rule, that whenever 
there was incubation, there was music; and the early 
spring song of the Thrush is an equally true indication of 
an early-breeder. The nest is frequently placed in the 
centre of a thick and tall bush or shrub, sometimes in 
a holly or fir tree, and occasionally this bird has been 
known to make its nest mm an open shed or tool-house. 
The nest formed externally of green moss and fine roots ; 
the inner surface smooth and compact, being lined with a 
thin coating of cowdung and rotten wood, so equally spread 
over and cemented, that when dry, it will, for a time, hold 
water; and so much rain has been found in a Thrush’s 
nest in an exposed situation, as to have induced the belief 
