now right, now left, the while: he sits seareamnaas upon a 
small branch not fifteen feet above you.” 
A small group of Varied Thrushes were quite shy when 
they arrived in the yard of one country home in December, 
and fled to the shelter of the trees at any sound or move- 
ment; but, after a few days, one or more would venture into 
the thickest foliage of the young fir near the bird table. 
There they longingly watched the Oregon Juncos as, one 
after another, they took turns at eating a full meal, while 
twenty other Juncos, waiting for an opportunity to get a 
share, stood about on the branches, like bits of decorative | 
china on a Christmas tree. A lifted hand or head sent the 
Varied Thrushes into retreat immediately, but the black- 
: headed snowbird had learned there was no danger in such 
movements. They would stand their ground, nibbling 
daintily, turning seeds around and around in their pinkish 
: pills to extract the goodies before dropping the chaff, their 
reddish-brown eyes on guard watching for signs of trouble. 
--It was a joyful day when at last Mr. Varied Thrush 
dared to mount the table and take his breakfast with just — 
the separating glass of the window between two appetites. 
Food never seemed quite so good to the watcher until this. 
traveller from the solitary places deigned to sit at apple 
only two feet away. He stood, head facing, crouched upon 
his toes, ready to spring if he were threatened, and picked 
up his bits of fruit, unwinkingly. When satisfied, or his 
courage failed, he flew behind a huckleberry screen, grow- 
ing in a tall stump nearby. There he peered through the 
~ leaves as he scratched his head with a toe, stretching his 
foot high over his wing, or as he preened his plumage, 
PSNI each long feather by slipping it through his bill. 
The mottled splashes of the young birds of the com- — 
moner species of the thrush family are carried, by the rarer 
-- members that visit the Northwest all their lives, as russet 
brown spots on their white or buffy breasts. Several kinds 
| of Hermit Thrushes, as they flit through in = will 
103 
