INTRODUCED WILD BIRDS 177 
breast. The male and female are very much alike, the 
female being rather smaller than the male and having a 
paler breast. 
The food of the Thrush is obtained for the most part 
on the ground,—where it hops along on a pair of stout 
legs, —and consists largely of earthworms, slugs, snails, 
and insects. It is of great use to the gardener in devouring 
insect pests and slugs, though it helps itself freely to 
ripening fruit and grain when these are available. The 
four toes of the feet are specially adapted for enabling the 
bird to maintain a tight clasp upon any object serving as a 
perch. 
In this country the song of the Thrush is heard nearly 
all the year round. From early morning until late in the 
evening it sings—perched on a high bough, it pours forth 
a strain of joyous notes which in sweetness and melody 
few birds are able to surpass. In the cold of early spring 
its welcome song gladdens our hearts as a herald of the 
warm summer days. 
The nest of the Thrush is built in a hedge, shrub, or 
tree—it is a massive structure, round, deep, and open at 
the top. The inside is lined with mud presenting a hard 
smooth surface, very like the inside of a cocoanut. The bird 
usually lays from four to six eggs. These are about an 
inch long, sky-blue in colour, and covered with black spots, 
which increase in number at the larger end. As in the 
case of most birds which build round nests, the eggs are 
placed with their narrower ends pointing towards the 
centre, an arrangement which enables them to be closely 
packed and more easily covered by the bird, and which is 
of advantage to the young bird when emerging from the 
egg—the exit being usually made at the thick end. 
The hatching process lasts for about a fortnight. The 
young birds are at first blind and almost naked; they 
M 
