PERCHING BIRDS. 25%

Golden Oriole; the Jay; the Magpie; the Raven; the Rook;
the Carrion Crow; the Jackdaw; the Chough; and the Bird
of Paradise. The second group includes the Swallow; the
Martin; the Goldfinch; the Linnet; the Canary; the Bull-
finch; the Bunting and many others. The third group con-
tains the Starlings; the Weaver Bird; the Lark; the Wagtail,
and the Pipits; the fourth group, the King Bird of North
America; the Manakins of Guinea; the Chatterers of South
America; the Bell Bird of Brazil, and the Umbrella Bird of
the Amazon. The fifth group contains the Lyre Birds and
‘the Scrub Birds of Australia. <
The The order of Thrush-like perching birds is a
Thrush. very large one, including nearly three thousand
known varieties. Of these it will be impossible, within present
limits, to even mention a very large number, and we shail
content ourselves with dealing with a few of the better known
species.
fhe Common The Thrush is one of the most popular of
Thrush. English native birds, as its song is one of the
most beautiful of those of the bird kind. It is a herald of
the English spring and summer, beginning to sing at the end
of January and continuing until July. It builds its nest na
hedge or bush, and, as it breeds early in the year, lines it
with a plaster of mud to protect its young from the cold winds.
It is a bold bird and will vigorously defend its nest from the
attacks of larger birds. It feeds on insects, snails and worms.
“Watch an old thrush,” says Dr. Stanley, “pounce down
on a lawn, moistened with dew and rain. At first he stands
motionless, apparently thinking of nothing at all, his eye
vacant, or with an unmeaning gaze. Suddenly he cocks his
ear on one side, makes a glancing sort of dart with his head
and neck, gives perhaps one or two hops, and then stops,
again listening attentively, and his eye glistening with atten-
tion and animation; his beak almost touches the ground,—
he draws back his head as if to make a determined peck.