‘Teiiderlo,’ three or four acres in extent, is obliged to make zigzag foot-paths through it, to cut away the 
boughs which obstruct them, and even to hoe and keep them clean. Having thus prepared himself, he 
purchases one or two bushels of the berries of tbe mountain asb, with the stalks to which they grew, and 
which are picked for the purpose after they are red but before they are ripe, to prevent their falling off; 
these he lays out on a table in tbe loft or attic. The collection of these berries is a regular trade, and tbe 
demand for them is so great that, although planted expressly by the side of the roads in the Ardennes, 
they have been sold as bigh as £2 the bushel 5 but the general j)rice is five francs. We will now suppose 
our Thrush-catcher arrived at his lodging in the country, that he has had his foot-paths cleared by the aid 
of a labourer, and that he is off for his first day’s sport. He is provided with a basket, one compartment of 
which holds his twigs bent or straight, another his berries; his springes being already attached to the twigs, 
he very rapidly drives his knife into a lateral branch and fixes them, taking care that the springe hangs 
neatly in the middle of the bow, and that the lower part of the springe is about three fingers’ breadth from 
the bottom ; by this arrangement the bird alighting on the lower side of the bow and bending his neck to 
reach the berries below him, places his head in the noose, and finding himself obstructed in his movements 
attempts to fly away ; but the treacherous noose tightens round his throat, and he is found by tbe sportsman 
hanging by the neck, a victim of misplaced confidence. 
“The workman (who at this season earns a second harvest by this pursuit) carries on his industry in wilder 
districts, or he frequently obtams permission from his employer to set springes in his master’s woods ; in 
this case he supplies the family with birds, which are highly appreciated as a delicacy, especially when 
almost covered with hutter, with a few juniper-herries, and some bacon cut into small dice, and baked in a 
pan ; the rest of his take he sells at from 5d. to lOr/. per dozen. 
“No person who has not lived in the country can Imagine the excitement among all classes when the 
Grlves arrive. If the morning he foggy. It Is a good day for Grivcs ; if hright, had ‘ Tenderie.’ The reason 
is obvious: when the birds arrive in a fog, they settle at once in the woods; if bright, they fly round about 
seeking the most propitious place for food. I may observe, a singular feeling of honour is engendered by 
this pursuit. Nobody would think of Injuring his neighbour’s ‘Tenderie.’ A sportsman would carefully 
avoid deranging the springes. If when shooting in your own covers a few are taken for the table, you 
Avould hang a franc piece conspicuously in an empty springe for every dozen birds taken. The law is very 
severe on poachers who place a springe the ground to take Partridges, Woodcocks, or Snipes ; but of 
three feet above ground the law says nothing, and, save as a trespasser, the placer of springes in the trees of 
a wood not his own property would not he punishahle. The number taken is prodigious; as many as 150 
Thrushes have been found executed in a ‘ tenderie’ in one morning. The younger members of families of the 
highest rank commonly follow this amusement before a gun is placed in their hands. 
“It may be readily imagined that before 5000 springes are set in a ‘Tenderie’ of four or five acres, a 
fortnight or three weeks will have elapsed, even should the grocer, linendraper, or publican be assisted by 
his wife and children : the amusement is common to all the family — wife, hoys, and girls. Many a small 
tradesman eats little else during his vacation at his ‘Tenderie’ besides Grives and bacon. From Liege to 
Tilf, thence to Aywayle, on the rivers Meuse, Ourthe, and the Ambleve to Chaudfontaine on the Vesdre, 
where the rivers are for miles shut in by precipitous banks covered with low woods, scarcely an acre is 
unlet for ‘ Tenderie ’ during the months of August, September, October, and November. The first fortnight 
of August is occupied in preparations, the rest of the time Is the harvest of Grives.” 
Mr. Box tells me that this species, “ the Redwing, and the Fieldfare are all caught in this manner and 
sold as Grives; hut the true Grive is the Song-Thrush. The latter is obtained from the end of August to 
the second week in September, the Redwing at the end of September and in October, and the Fieldfare 
at the end of October and in November. A few Ring-Ousels and Blackbirds are often caught among 
the Thrushes.” 
The account above given is very instructive, as showing how much more numerous these Merullne birds 
are in Belgium during the autumn than with us, a circumstance w'hich may be due to this country not 
lying In tlie direct line of their migrations. 
Besides Britain, the Thrush ranges over all parts of Europe, and even goes a good way into the Arctic 
Circle — probably as far as the fir-forests extend. It also ranges over the whole of North Africa, and many 
parts of Egypt and Persia. 
It would be superfluous to give a further account of the breeding of the Thrush than is comprised in the 
passing notices of it already included in this paper. Every schoolboy knows that the lining of its nest is 
composed of rotten wood with an admixture of water and mud to hold it together ; neither have its beautiful 
blue eggs dotted with black been unobserved. 
The accompanying Plate represents a nest and eggs, with their frequent accompaniment, the dog-rose. 
The figure of the bird is a representation of an old male, of the natural size, with a reduced figure 
of a female in the distance. 
