40 The Song Lhrush. 
stuck together with clay and excrement of cows; when 
the nest is quite dry and hard the female lays five eggs. 
This bird is not considered migratory, although seen 
in flocks in the autumn. It feeds on worms, slugs, and 
snails, and fruits of various kinds ; in the winter, when 
the weather is severe, and all around is white with 
snow, it pays frequent visits to the hawthorn for sup- 
port. It is amusing to see the Thrush take a snail 
and manage to feed on. the inside by breaking the 
shell; at first it looks at it very curiously, as if to 
satisfy itself the shell contains a good inside (as de- 
picted in the illustration): this is done about the dis- 
tance of one hop from it; when it has made its peck 
to secure the object, it flies or hops with it in its beak 
to some stone it has chosen, and breaks the shell 
against it, by holding it and beating it several times 
upon the hard surface ; when this is accomplished, it 
pecks the snail from its former home, and goes in 
search of another. The Thrush often prefers one stone 
in particular for this purpose. 

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