78 
THE LANGUAGE OF BIRDS. 
to whom I am already so largely indebted. In his 
observations respecting the ferruginous thrush, {turdus 
rufus,) whose notes, he says, have a considerable 
resemblance to the song-thrush of Britain, thus re- 
marks: " He is accused, by some people, of scratching 
up the hills of Indian corn, in planting time ; this 
may be partly true ; but for every grain of maize he 
pilfers, I am persuaded, he destroys five hundred 
insects ; particularly a large dirty-coloured grub, with 
a black head, which is more pernicious to the corn, 
and other grain and vegetables, than nine-tenths of 
the whole feathered race.'' 
How many of these indefatigable little cleansers 
of the earth are wantonly destroyed, from a mis- 
taken idea that they devour the seeds ; whereas they 
are actually of the greatest service to farmers and 
gardeners. 
Among other remarks on this bird, the following 
must be read with interest : — " Concerning the saga- 
city and reasoning faculty of this bird, my venerable 
friend, Mr. Barham, writes me as follows : ^ I re- 
member to have reared one of these birds from the 
nest, which, when full grown, became very tame and 
docile. I frequently let him out of his cage to give 
