62 Rock Thrushes 



him, as it were, in his wild state for the first time, 

 behaving, too, exactly as he behaves in a drawing- 

 room when he is out of his cage, so that we both 

 began to think he must have followed us to the 

 Auvergne hills, and be there amongst that pleasant 

 company. 



And I whistle, as I always whistle to him, which 

 causes the beautiful male bird that we were especially 

 attracted towards, to puff himself out defiantly and 

 whistle in response. 



But discretion to him is the better part of valour, 

 for as we are emboldened to a nearer approach, he 

 gracefully retires, not hurriedly like a clamorous black- 

 bird, but flitting up the slope from rock to rock, finally 

 disappearing, with his companions and his family, to 

 more solitary quarters. 



We hear him piping a little distance off, as much 

 as to say, " You needn't think a Frenchman is 

 frightened of you English ; those rocks are not 

 Fashoda, they are mine, and I shall return to take 

 possession as soon as you are gone." It was refreshing 

 to find these pretty mountain birds so unmolested, to 

 know that although they had chosen France as their 

 summer home, they were scarcely noticed by the 

 inhabitants ; actually not shot and eaten. 



" Le merle de roche " they are called, I think ; and 

 the Italians style them " Codirossone" ; or perhaps 

 more usually, at any rate in peasant lingo, " Colossera." 



Another day we rode off into the heart of the 

 mountains, behind the snow-capped peak that towers 

 up above Mont Dore, accompanied by a chasseur, 



