SON G-THRU SH . — Tardus musicus. 
The well-known Song-Thrush, or Throstle, as it is sometimes called, bears a 
deservedly high rank among our British birds of song. 
The food of the Thrush is mostly of an animal character, and consists largely 
of worms, snails, slugs, and similar creatures. In eating snails it is very 
dexterous, taking them in its bill, battering them against a stone, until the shells 
are entirely crushed, and then swallowing the inclosed mollusc. When a Thrush 
has found a stone that suits his purpose peculiarly well, he brings all his snails to 
the spot, and leaves quite a large heap of empty snail-shells under the stone. 
One of the best examples that I have ever seen, was a large square boulder- 
stone, forming part of a rustic stile in Wiltshire. There was a large pile of 
shells immediately under the stone, and the ground was strewed for some 
distance with the crushed fragments that had evidently been trodden upon and 
carried away by the feet of passengers. 
The Thrush does not, however, confine itself wholly to this kind of diet, but, 
in the autumn months, feeds largely on berries and different fruits, being very 
fond of cherries, and sometimes doing some damage to the orchards. 
Sometimes the bird employs rather strange materials for its nest ; and I know 
of an instance where a Thrush carried off a lace cap that was hanging on a 
clothes-line, and worked it into the sides of its nest. 
106 
