THE THRUSH 195 



ways are ! He will alight suddenly on the grass, and look 

 round as if surprised at finding himself in such a place. 

 He takes a short quick run and dives for a worm, but 

 raises his head the next instant as if afraid of being taken 

 unawares. Then he attacks the worm fiercely, and pulls 

 it half out of the ground. Another startled look £tnd 

 another pull, and his prey is at his feet. He may feast on 

 it there and then ; or he may fly off with it to share it 

 with his family. 



The sleek brown plumage, the trim figure, the beauti- 

 ful speckled breast of white and buff, the dark intelligent 

 eye, the little knowing turn of the head, held for a moment 

 on one side as if listening — surely the Thrush is one of the 

 most familiar of living things, in suburban and country 

 gardens. 



Snails are a food to which the Thrush is specially 

 partial. To watch him breaking the shell to get at the 

 juicy morsel inside is quite a study. Sometimes, instead 

 of using as an anvil anything hard that happens to be 

 near, he carries the snail to one particular stone that he 

 has found, and which suits his fancy. The ground all 

 round such a stone will be strewn with the tiny pieces of 

 broken shells. My readers may have come across such 

 stones. 



The nest of the Thrush — formed like a small deep 

 basin — is well known. It is usually built in tree or bush 

 or thick ivy, and is made of grass with a lining of wet 

 clay, which the bird smooths and presses with her body 

 till the whole structure is very firm and hard. The 

 lovely sky-blue eggs, spotted or freckled with black, are 

 from four to six in number. They are laid quite early in 

 the year, often in March. 



Occasionally we hear of a Thrush nesting in an odd 



