A THRUSH'S NEST.
LTo Tar Eorroa or Tin "BracriAroi.1
SIR,—As a regular reader of your paper for more than thirty years, I know what interest you take in questions of natural history, and I am sure you will be interested in the following story. About half-a-mile from where I now write is a railway-crossing ; close by is a signal-box and a signal- post with two arms and two platforms. On the lower of these platforms, close up to the post, a thrush built her
nest. Twice during the day a man has to go on to this platform to attend to the lamps, and during the last few weeks the arms of the signal were painted. From 5 a.m. until midnight nearly two hundred trains pass on each weekday and seventy on Sunday; yet in spite of these apparent drawbacks, the bird hatched and reared five young ones, the last of which left the nest two days ago. The men who worked the box took the greatest interest in the plucky bird, and the whereabouts of the nest was widely known; yet no attempt at disturbance was made. I understand that the bird frequently allowed the regular attendant to the lamps to come on to the platform without moving, but if a stranger came she left at once and took refuge in a neighbouring tree. I was passing on one such occasion and she gave audible evidence of her anxiety. Does this mean that she could dis- tinguish one man from another F—I am, Sir, &c.,
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