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The following account of the habits of this species is extracted from Seebohm's * History of 
British Birds ' :— 
*'The Song-Thrush is a skulking bird, although not perhaps so much so as the Blackbird. It 
is extremely fond of hiding under dense thickets and the broad close foliage of evergreens where the 
branches sweep the ground. It is here that the birds obtain much of their food; and in some cases 
regular paths are made through the dense underwood, especially behind walls or hedgerows, which 
often put you in mind of a weasel's ‘run. Indeed the Song-Thrush is, of all other birds, perhaps 
the most frequently caught in the “figure of four” traps set for weasels, owing to its peculiar habit 
of hopping under the brushwood. Like the Blackbird, it is flushed with difficulty when in these 
situations, and always prefers to hop quickly along the ground rather than take wing. When flushed, 
it flies rapidly away, and alights suddenly, as though anxious to enter the nearest suitable cover and 
hide itself as quickly as possible. The Song-Thrush is more often seen above the tree-tops than the 
Blackbird, and will take long and rapid flights to and from its feeding-grounds at some elevation, 
seldom uttering a note. It becomes unusually vociferous towards evening; and its chattering cry is 
heard well into the night. In autumn, or, perhaps, still more the last few fine days before winter 
fairly sets in, its garrulity is the greatest. Then in the wooded depths of its roosting-place you 
hear its sharp cry, almost like the noise made by a ratchet-drill, which it keeps up as it flits from place 
to place long after it begins to be dark, and when most other birds have retired to rest. Upon the 
ground the Song-Thrush proceeds in a series of hops, seldom if ever running or walking. His 
attitude when in the act of listening intently is with the wings drooping slightly, tail almost 
horizontal, and head slightly raised; but he never elevates his tail upon alighting, like the 
Blackbird does. 
* In our own country, as soon as the days of summer decline and autumnal tints appear in the 
landscape, the Song-Thrush is seen in little companies; and as autumn passes away, and the fogs 
and chilly nights of November arrive, the birds nearly all take their departure, and where they once 
swarmed only one or two solitary individuals are to be seen. Тһе Rivelin valley, a few miles from 
Sheffield, is annually the scene of an unmistakable migration of the Song-Thrush. Late in autumn 
the birds for a few days literally swarm in the Rivelin copses, where at all other times of the year 
they are absent altogether, or nearly so. Although the birds abound here so plentifully they are not 
at all gregarious: social they may be; yet each seems to confine itself to its own affairs, to fly off 
alone, and apparently to live by itself. Ву the latter end of January or the beginning of February, 
when the first faint signs of approaching spring are seen, the Song-Thrushes are back once more in 
their old haunts. "There can be little doubt that they migrate, like the Red-wing, in the night ; for 
one day not a bird is to be seen in their favourite haunts, but the next their mellow varied song 
fills the air. Instantly upon their arrival they are in full song, and pairing begins at once. 
Heligoland is an excellent post of observation for seeing the migration of the Song-Thrush. On the 
eastern side of this interesting little rock are the *throstle-bushes. The island contains scarcely 
any trees or shrubs, and is for the most part laid out in potato-patches. These *throstle-bushes ' 
are erected by the inhabitants, and have a net on one side, into which the poor Thrushes are driven 
with lanterns and sticks the instant they alight. By the side of these artificial bushes the 
Heligolanders watch on favourable nights for the arrival of the birds. Aeuckens, the bird-stuffer 
there, related to me with great gusto how, suddenly, a rush and whirl of wings would be heard, and, 
without a moment's warning, the throstle-bushes would swarm with Thrushes, not dropped, but as 
if shot like an arrow from a bow perpendicularly down from the invisible heights of mid-air. Тһе 
number of Thrushes thus caught is almost incredible, it being no unusual thing for several 
hundreds to be taken in a single night, thus clearly proving to what a very great extent the Song- 
Thrush is a migratory bird. In our own land we suspect the reason this migration has been 
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