149 



THE MISSEL THRUSH, {TURDUS VISCIVORUS.) 



BY J. MC INTOSH, ESQ. 



There is one trait in the character of the Missel Thrush, which is 



handed down from one ornithologist to another, namely, that it is noisy 



and pugnacious during incubation, and will then attack other birds without 



any hesitation that come near its nest; how far this is correct from tlie 



observations of others, I will not pretend to say, but I think the following 



fact — and 



"Facts are cliiels that winna ding, 

 And doMTia be disputed," 



will modify this established belief. At the present time, there is in my 

 garden at Charminstcr, Dorset, a yew tree about fifteen feet high, with not a 

 very large head, in which a pair of Missel Thrushes have built their nest, which 

 contains two eggs; exactly one foot by measurement, and in a direct line 

 above, a pair of Common Linnets, {Linota cannahina,) have built their nest, 

 which now also contains two eggs. I have watched these birds, (namely, thes 

 Missel Thrushes and the Linnets,) with some considerable attention during the 

 operation of building, and must say that between the two the best understanding 

 imaginable has, and still continues to exist. Nor is this the only instance 

 which I have observed and recorded in my note-book, of the quiet behaviour 

 of this bird towards others which build and rear their young near its chosen 

 haunts, to which it will return year after year, even to the self-same tree 

 In the defence of its home and young, it is very courageous, like many 

 other birds. We have seen a pair attack the Sparrow Hawk, (Accipiter nisus,) 

 and drive him away from the neighbourhood of their nest; but not so with 

 those which build and rear their young near him, as we have above related,, 

 in the self-same tree. So much then for the pugnacious propensity of the 

 Gray or Holm Thrush, Throstle Cock, Storm Cock, Screech Thrush, Mistletoe 

 Thrush, Missel Thrush, and lastly, Turdus viscivorus. As to their noisy 

 habit, the pair building in my garden, and a pair in my next door neighbour's, 

 have gone on hitherto so quietly, that if they were not seen, no person 

 would know that the birds were in the neighbourhood. That they are noisy 

 at times, we admit, but it is not so general a failing as some writers would 

 lead us to believe. It commences its song early in January in the southera 

 counties, and February and beginning of March in the more northern. Although 

 not so thrilling as the other Merulidce, still it has indescribable charms to 

 the oraithologist, and is thus described by Charlotte Smith: — 



"Oh, herald of the spring! while yet 



No harebell scents the woodland lane. 

 No stai'wort fail", nor violet 



Braves the bleak giist and driving rain, 



