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meanwhile perched on the top of an old column, and uttering his dolorous ditty. Mr. Cochrane 

 and I took a nest, with four fresh eggs, on April 2nd, in one of the robbers' caves in the Wady 

 Hamam, near the Sea of Galilee. The nest was conveniently placed on a shelf far in, without 

 any attempt at concealment, and was like the nest of our Blackbird, with mud mingled with the 

 straw, instead of a shell of cow-dung. This bird is with good reason believed to be the ' sparrow 

 that sitteth alone upon the housetop' of the Psalmist. The young birds were fledged at the 

 beginning of May. The eggs are a very pale blue, smaller than those of the Thrush." The 

 same naturalist also writes : — " Few spots where there is any vegetation are without a pair of 

 these shy and wary birds, who may be detected dropping, like a Wheatear, behind a rock in a 

 ravine, or perched on the mud wall of a palm-grove, the male occasionally rising and hovering 

 like a Lark at some height during his song, which is, however, more frequently chanted from 

 the top of an isolated rock. It occasionally perches on bushes, and, as a songster, possesses 

 organs of voice of not less power, compass, and variety than our own Song-Thrush." Mr. C. A. 

 Wright, who has contributed so many capital essays upon the birds of Malta to 'The Ibis,' 

 observes in one of these papers : — " It is a lover of rocky and solitary places, but not unfrequently 

 approaches the dwellings of man ; it is no uncommon occurrence to see it perched on the corner 

 of some house, giving vent to its melodious but plaintive song, which it also often pours forth on 

 the wing. It is most commonly met with in pairs on the south coast, where it breeds in the high 

 cliffs. It also constructs a loosely formed nest in ruined buildings, in which case its progeny are 

 sure to be taken by the country-lads, who find a ready sale for them in the town as cage-birds. 

 The Blue Thrush becomes strongly attached to the locality in which it has been brought up, and 

 seldom quits it. This affection is also shown in a state of captivity, and it rarely long survives 

 removal to a new and strange place. Many instances of this kind have come under my notice. 

 One is worth mentioning. When the new market in Valletta was opened, many of the market- 

 people brought with them cages containing these birds from the old market, where they had 

 been reared. One after another of the birds pined away and died, and in a few weeks not one 

 survived the change of locality; yet they were fed by the same hand, and with the same descrip- 

 tion of food. Almost fabulous prices are sometimes given for a good songster. An instance is 

 fresh in my memory of a noble lady who considered herself fortunate in securing one for £7 10s., 

 as the owner was very loth to part with it; and two or three pounds is not an unusual price. 

 The male nestlings may easily be distinguished from the females at a very early age by their blue 

 wing-coverts. In confinement they are much subject to a disease of the feet, which generally 

 proves fatal. The Maltese suspend a piece of red cloth and a cowry-shell in its cage, which they 

 consider a certain specific against the evil eye." Near Pisa, Dr. Giglioli observes that " this bird, 

 called by the Italians ' Passera solitaria,' generally frequents old towers and church-steeples, and 

 pours forth its glowing melody even from the top of the Verruca, a ruined mediaeval fortress 

 which crowns one of the highest summits of the Pisan range." 



The accompanying short description is given by Baron von cler Miihle, in his little essay on 

 the ornithology of Greece : — " In its habits and song it much resembles the Chats. In summer 

 it frequents the most inaccessible rocks, but in the late autumn comes to the towns, where it is 

 common, and on the roofs seeks its food, singing continually, but is shy and manages to escape 

 pursuit. The nest is difficult to find. One was shown to me which was built in a low bush 



