His food consists chiefly of insects, though worms form a considerable part of his diet, and snails are a delicacy of which he is extremely fond.

There must be few people who have not noticed our brown friend hopping down the garden path with his peculiar sidelong leaps, now and then varied by two or three quick short steps as he conveys a snail to his favourite abattoir. This usually consists of a moderate-sized smooth stone, on which the unfortunate snail is beaten till his house falls from him; when this is accomplished there is a quick gulp, and he is gone! Thus refreshed, our friend will mount a near-by twig, clean his bill by rubbing it several times on either side of his perch, preen and shake out his feathers a bit, and then resting on one leg he will whistle his song, which has been rendered by some writers in the following words:—“Deal o’ wet, deal o’ wet, deal o’ wet, I do, I do, I do. Who’d do it: Pretty Dick, Pretty Dick, Pretty Dick, Who’d do it.” This will go on for some time until perhaps he happens to glance down at the lawn which he considers his especial preserve. Here he sees something which causes his song to cease in an instant. It is his rival openly flaunting himself before him. There is a swirl of wings as he rushes to the attack! They meet! Their bills snap violently, and there is every prospect of a fight. Then suddenly the rival retreats precipitately into the nearest bush, hotly pursued by our friend, and we have time to notice the peculiar way in which the tail and wings are spread as they disappear. Then we see no more.

Such is the life of one of our commonest birds as we may witness it any day in early spring. By the end of March, or even earlier, its nest may be found in some sheltered nook. It is not often more than 10 feet from the ground, and is generally in the fork of some tree or bush, or on the beam of some old barn or potting shed; perhaps it may be found in the middle of a hedgerow, or occasionally even on the ground. It is composed of rough grass and bents, and lined with mud pressed round and smoothed so as to form a fairly deep cup.

The eggs are five in number, and in colour are a beautiful pale blue, with a few small black or purplish-mauve spots towards the larger end, these markings being in some cases entirely lacking. After a fortnight’s incubation the young are hatched; they are then almost naked and only slightly covered with down.

Incubation is carried on by the hen alone, but both birds assist in the feeding, the diet consisting almost entirely of earth-worms. In about a fortnight to three weeks after the young are hatched they leave the nest to find and earn their own living, whilst their parents busy themselves with the cares of another family, for a pair of birds generally rears three broods in the season. After the rearing of the last brood, which is over by the end of June or early in July, both old and young begin to moult. Consequently, at this time of year they are very quiet and skulking in their habits, but we may sometimes catch sight of them in the evenings and early mornings when they come out to feed on lawns and fields where the grass is short and where their favourite earth-worms abound. About the end of August a close observer will often miss his little friend for a few days or even weeks. Then one morning he will again see the familiar figure on the lawn and think that perhaps his companion has returned. But it is not so. The spring visitor has gone to another part of the country, probably not very far away, as this species is only a partial migrant, but nevertheless he has gone, and the bird which has taken his place has come from some more northerly locality to spend the winter. Probably we do not notice the change, and put down the temporary disappearance of our particular Song Thrush to the fact that we chanced not to see him. It is not so, however, for our friend of spring and summer has departed.

The general colour above, including mantle and wings, is uniform olive brown, some of the major and median covers having buffish tips. Breast yellowish, spotted with triangular olive-brown spots, the flanks uniformly olive, chin and throat white, margined with a row of dark streaks. Belly white. Bill brown, base of lower mandible paler. Legs pale flesh. Iris hazel. Length 9·0 in.; wing 4·6 in.

Young birds are spotted on the upper parts. This species is widely and generally distributed throughout the British Isles.