‘ Tenderie.’ three or four acres in extent, is obliged to make zigzag foot-paths through it, to cut away the
bouo-hs which obstruct them, and even to hoe and keep them clean. Having thus prepared himself, he
purchases one or two bushels of the berries o f the mountain ash, with the stalks to which they grew, and
which are picked for the purpose after they are red but before they are ripe, to prevent their falling off;
these be lays out on a table in the loft or attic. The collection o f these berries is a regular trade, and the
demand for them is so great that, although planted expressly by the side of the roads in the Ardennes,
they have been sold as high as £ 2 the bushel; but the general price is five francs. We will now suppose
our Thrush-catcher arrived at his lodging in the country, that he has had his foot-paths cleared by the aid
of a labourer, and that he is off for his first day’s sport. He is provided with a basket, one compartment of
which holds his twigs bent or straight, another his berries; his springes being already attached to the twigs,
he very rapidly drives his knife into a lateral branch and fixes them, taking care that the springe hangs
neatly in the middle of the bow, and that the lower part of the springe is about three fingers’ breadth from
the bottom ; by this arrangement the bird alighting on the lower side of the bow and bending his neck to
reach the berries below him, places his head in the noose, and finding himself obstructed in his movements
attempts to fly away; but the treacherous noose tightens round his throat, and he is found by the sportsman
hanging by the neck, a victim of misplaced confidence.
“ The workman (who at this season earns a second harvest by this pursuit) carries on his industry in wilder
districts, or he frequently obtains permission from his employer to set springes in his master’s woods; in
this case he supplies the family with birds, which are highly appreciated as a delicacy, especially when
almost covered with butter, with a few juniper-berries, and some bacon cut into small dice, and baked in a
pan ; the rest o f his take he sells at from 5d. to 10</. per dozen.
“ No person who has not lived in the country can imagine the excitement among all classes when the
Grives arrive. If the morning be foggy, it is a good day for Grives; if bright, bad ‘ Tenderie.’ The reason
is obvious: when the birds arrive in a fog, they settle at once in the woods; if bright, they fly round about
seeking the most propitious place for food. I may observe, a singular feeling of honour is engendered by
this pursuit. Nobody would think o f injuring his neighbour’s ‘ Tenderie.’ A sportsman would carefully
avoid deranging the springes. If when shooting in your own covers a few are taken for the table, you
would hang a franc piece conspicuously in an empty springe for every dozen birds taken. The law is very
severe on poachers who place a springe on the ground to take Partridges, Woodcocks, or Snipes; but of
three feet above ground the law says nothing, and, save as a trespasser, the placer o f springes in the trees of
a wood not his own property would not be punishable. The number taken is prodigious; as many as 150
Thrushes have been found executed in a * tenderie’ in one morning. The younger members o f families of the
highest rank commonly follow this amusement before a gun is placed in their hands.
“ It may be readily imagined that before 5000 springes are set in a ‘Tenderie’ o f four or five acres, a
fortnight or three weeks will have elapsed, even should the grocer, linendraper, o r publican be assisted by
his wife and children: the amusement is common to all the family—wife, boys, and girls. Many a small
tradesman eats little else during his vacation at his ‘ T enderie’ besides Grives and bacon. From Liege to
Tilf, thence to Aywayle, on the rivers Meuse, Ourthe, and the Ambleve to Chaudfontaine on the Vesdre,
where the rivers are for miles shut in by precipitous banks covered with low woods, scarcely an acre is
unlet for * T enderie ’ during the months of August, September, October, and November. The first fortnight
o f August is occupied in preparations, the rest of the time is the harvest of Grives.”
Mr. Box tells me that this species, “ the Redwing, and the Fieldfare are all caught in this manner and
sold as Grives; but the true Grive is the Song-Thrush. The latter is obtained from the end of August to
the second week in September, the Redwing a t the end o f September and in October, and the Fieldfare
at the end of October and in November. A few Ring-Ousels and Blackbirds are often caught among
the Thrushes.”
The account above given is very instructive, as showing how much more numerous these Merulinc birds
are in Belgium during the autumn than with us, a circumstance which may be due to this country not
lying in the direct line of their migrations.
Besides Britain, the Thrush ranges over all parts of Europe, and even goes a good way into the Arctic
Circle—probably as far as the fir-forests extend. It also ranges over the whole of North Africa, and many
parts of Egypt and Persia.
I t would be superfluous to give a further account of the breeding o f the Thrush than is comprised in the
passing notices of it already included in this paper. Every schoolboy knows that the lining of its nest is
composed o f rotten wood with an admixture of water and mud to hold it to g eth er; neither have its beautiful
blue eggs dotted with black been unobserved.
The accompanying Plate represents a nest and eggs, with their frequent accompaniment, the dog-rose.
The figure o f the bird is a representation of an old male, of the natural size, with a reduced figure
of a female in the distance.