The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1882-10-18
The Red Thrush.

Dainty of its situation, choosing its
haunts in places seldom frequented by
man, but avoiding the deep forest; in
habiting wide, solitary fields, but making
their solitude cheerful by its own melo-
dious strains, such is the red thrush, one
of the most remarkable songsters of the
American continent. Though very gen.
orally known, only few are we'll ac-
quainted with its song or have observed
its. ways. Though it frequents open
fields, it is shy of observation, and when
singing, it stops if any one approaches it
The rud thrush minds its own bust
ness and troubles no other bird; but
lives at peace with all creatures save tho
reptile that brought sin into the world.
The red thrush permits no black snake
to come near its premises. One of my
encounter between two red thrushes and
a black snake. The snake stood very
high upon its coil, with its mouth open
birds were circling round it and fire.
quently dashing at the head of the rep
tile. 1 was then boy, and supposed the
snake to be charmingth birds. In truth
the snake only was in peril, and might
the thrushes, if / had not interfered. /
went, as supposed, to the rescue of the
birds, and killed the snake. The red
thrush has very strong bill, is bold in
attacking and intruder ON its domicile,
and it has been known to destroy the
eyes of the black snake.
1t is fact worthy of mention, as one
of the many examples of English preju-
dice against the people of France, that
when Virginia was an English colony,
the red thrush was named by the inhabi-
tants the French mocking-bird to distin-
guish it from its celebrated congener.
The red thrush was enormously believed
to be a mocker, and it Was called French
to express its supposed inferiority to the
other species. The English are remark
able for this ludicrous propensity to
distinguish between two things of unequal
merit by calling the inferior one Frenchl
They carry this prejudice into their
literary criticism to an absurd extreme,
as we may particularly notice in the
critical works of S. T. Coleridge, who
denies in 'The Friend" that any such
quality as "genius" ever existed in the
French mindI
The inferiority of the red thrush to the
mocking-bird is not so great as they sup
posed. Its habits are more solitary, and
in the Southern States it is not so gener-
ally known. 1t abides away from the
town, while the mocking-bird is as famil-
lar as the robin is around our dwellings;
flying from tree to tree, often uttering
few notes like the golden robin, and is
almost ceaseless in these repetitions. The
red thrush, on the contrary, never sings
any snatches of song. He perches ON
tree near the sitting place of his mate,
and deliberately devotes himself to sing
ing, and is more continuous in his per-
formance than any other bird. One will
often sing nearly half an hour without
making any long pause.
The nest of the bird is placed either
in low bush or upon the ground in the
midst of clump of bushes or briers.
The bird displays no remarkable skill in
the construction of its nest, made chiefly
of dry grass with little mud, and lined
with hair and other fine materials.
Ground builders are seldom ingenious in
making their nests, but often display
considerable art in providing for their
conceaiment. The eggs of the red
thrush are white, thickly covered with
brown spots.
Mr.. Bartram, writing to Alexander
Wilson, mentions a curious instance of
the sagacity of the bird, as exemplified
in the habits OF one which he had reared
in a cage. The bird consumed almost
all kinds of insects and was particularly
fond of wasps. After catching one and
beating it to break its wings, the bird
would lay it down, look for the sting,
and with his bill squeeze out the sting
and the poison before he swallowed it.
5rI low, fIuf fha
has sting? And how does he know the
method by which it may be extracted?
1t is evident that in the lower animals
the knowledge and experience of their
predecessors are transmitted to their of.
spring. In human beings the powers
and propensities only are transmitted.
Birds, for example, are perfect repre-
sentations of their parents, as if they
were propagated by scions. They may
be said to have the same identity. The
instincts of the lower animals are but
inherited recollections. This is one of
the problems of personal identity which,
if carefully studied, would lead us to
some very surprising conclusions in re-
gard to our own race; but this is not
the place for the discussion of it.
We do not often see more than two
red thrushes together. Never at any
season do they move in flocks, not even
like the robin in struggling parties of
seven or eight. Whenever we see two
pairs of thrushes in the same field we
may be sure there are two nests there;
but the two pairs do not hold any COM
munication. The red thrush is exclu-
sively devoted to its own family, having
very little intercourse with its neighbors.
1t is said that these birds continue mated
the whole year; hence they usually ar
tive in pairs soon after May Day.
Wilson greatly admired the notes of
the red thrush. They are loud, and may
be heard, as he asserts, full half mile
off, He thinks they resemble in some
points the notes of the song thrush of
Great Britain; but he does not describe
their difference. The song of the red
thrush is as unique and original as that
of the bobolink, and quite as difficult Of
imitation. 1t is best represented by
words One pecul'a. habit of the bird
is that of constantly repeating its words,
if may so call them, twice over, and
sometimes thrice, as if he said, "Look
out! lsok ont! soait q minute, Scd,t a
minute; s1dtchee, t0dtchee; ditto. ditto,
ditto; t0hat do ye knoU? tohdt do ye
ka,ol0?" After these repetitions, there
follows continuous warble for few sec
onds, when he again repeats his dupi-
Gated words.-WilSon F7dgq. in Boston