HABITATION.--When wild it seldom quits the mountains in the south of Europe; in spring, however, it advances as far as Burgundy, and returns in the end of August; it arrives, in the month of April, at the spot where it generally passes the summer, and returns constantly every year to the place where it first took up its abode. Two pairs are seldom found in the same district. Except in the pairing season it is a solitary bird. In confinement it is furnished with a cage like that of the blackbird. FOOD.--When wild it feeds on insects, berries, and grapes. In confinement it is treated like the song thrush, adding ants' eggs and meal-worms. BREEDING.--The nest, made of blades of grass and feathers, is generally placed at the top of a solitary chimney, or on the summit of an old castle, or on the top of a large tree, generally near a steeple or high tower. The female lays five or six eggs. The young ones, if taken from the nest soon enough, are capable of instruction; the flexibility of the throat fitting it either for tunes or words. They sing also by candle-light in the night. If treated with care they live in confinement eight or ten years. From the summit of a high tower or steeple the male utters for whole days the most beautiful and pathetic song, accompanying it by flapping his wings, moving his tail, and elevating the feathers of his head. ATTRACTIVE QUALITIES.--His beautiful voice is in great repute in all the countries he inhabits; it is, indeed, very sweet and flute-like; his song, though musical, is somewhat melancholy, as is usual with solitary birds; many persons, however, are very fond of it. This bird, when tamed, fetches a very high price at Milan, Constantinople, &c. In some countries it is so much respected that it is considered sacrilegious to kill it or destroy its nest. THE BLUE THRUSH. Turdus cyaneus, LINNÆUS; Le Merle bleu, BUFFON; Die blau Drossel, BECHSTEIN. This bird is rather larger than the common blackbird, its length being eight inches, three of which belong to the tail. The beak, fourteen lines in length, is blackish, the iris dark nut brown, the eyelids yellow; the shanks, thirteen lines in height, are blackish; the whole plumage is of an ash blue, but each feather has near its tip a transverse brown line, and the tip itself is whitish. The individual birds vary in the depth of the blue, according to their age and sex. The female is generally more uniform in colour than the male. HABITATION.--When wild the blue thrush is found in the Archipelago, in Dalmatia, Italy, Spain, and other southern countries, always among steep rocks. In confinement it is provided with a convenient cage, like the preceding. FOOD.--When wild it feeds on all sorts of insects. In confinement it is fed like the nightingale.