THIIUSII. 
o 
mJ 
r nnf T ball under banks and hedges, while Blackbirds, 
be found half-starved, moping, with feathers pi ’ ^ mndition When suffering from 
“r. - c ir. :r; .» » 
(I'lvu up aud^nugl) concealed in fheir plumage foe warmth, a change from one foot to the other emg 
occasionally elfected. Wherever I take up my quarters a copious supply of scraps is a ways provi c or le 
swarms of pensioners that gather round the house in severe winters: hundreds may ^ ® “ 
awaiting ani eventually quarrelling over their loog-expeeted dole. On the 21st of January 1881, the terrific 
hurricanes and snow-drifts whicli had prevailed for several successive days greatly exhausted the whole of the 
smaller land-birds on the south coast, and, in the neighbourhood of Brighton, Blackbirds and Thrus les were 
utterly unable to stand: without the slightest power in their legs, the unfortunate birds fluttered slowly 
with drooping wings to tlie food, and falling on their breasts fought ravenously over every morsel. Thousands 
of many species were found dead for several weeks as the snow slowly melted and revealed the sheltered corneis 
into which they had crawled to die. 
Thrushes were stated by the men who looked after the Sea-fowl on the rock to breed on tbe Bass. This 
may have been the case ; but I never detected a nest occupied or even the old remains. Blackbirds were at 
times plentiful, breeding about the old buildings, and this may have led to the mistake. Is umbers of Thrushes, 
liowever, were attracted to the lower parts of the rock by the quantities of snails collected in the cracks and 
crannies of the old masonry : heaps of broken shells might be found here and there among the fortifications 
round some of the larger stones, to which they had been carried in order to be broken. 
The neatly built nest of the Thrush is placed in a variety of situations, at one time high in the branches 
of a lofty tree, at another among the ivy and other creeping plants on some overhanging bank, or even on 
the ground itself. The limbs of trained fruit-trees, furze-bushes, faggot-stacks, piles of old rubbish, ruined 
buildings, disused saw-pits, and, indeed, almost any site in which the cradle could possibly be fixed, are at times 
resorted to. On the 28th of March, 1882, while passing within a few yards of a Thrush’s nest placed in an 
evergreen oak in a garden near Brighton, on which the female was covering a brood of half-fledged young, 
the male arrived and, alighting on the side of the nest, thrust his bill below his mate with an upward 
moiement of the bead which forced her immediately to withdraw to the side ; the male then fed the young 
and took his departure, the female at once resuming her former position. The reminder that the old gentle- 
man bestowed on his spouse to induce her to vacate the nest appeared to be administered with somewhat 
unnecessary violence. 
To note dowm accurately the food of this useful bird is almost impossible. Snails, flies, spiders, and 
many insects that are injurious to the gardener are liberally consumed. A few minutes’ observation of the 
actions of a Thrush while hunting for a breakfast on a lawm in the early morning will speedily give a notion 
of tlie number of worms devoured. The berries of privet, hawthorn, and barberry {Berheris Darwinii) are 
also sw^allowxd, and the fruit having been separated from the stones the latter are cast up. On July 22nd, 
88-, I no iced a Thrush repeatedly settling on a barberry-bush, and rapidly bolting ten or a dozen berries, 
k.:o ^thI^ZT, of keepmg them at a distance a ve now so well 
AVhen starvk» in se^e r *eir depredations, 
pte ® '-getables are eagerly 
t'hc note of the Thrush, too familiar to need description, may be heard at all times nf tl tt i 
heading of January 1st, 1883, 1 find an entry in my iournal — ‘ ikd sn !! i ! ^ 
singing before daylight and .at dnsl- >' nth-west, fog and light ram ; Thrushes 
arc hatched in a season. Should the weather be mild young may be 
daylight and at dusk. 
When undisturbed several broods 
