132 BIRDS. 



CHAPTER I. THE PERCHING BIRDS. 



[Tliroiighout the following pages on birds, the summer, winter, and 

 niigrational visitors are denoted respectively by *, f, §. Rare stragglers 

 are in italics. The rest are residents. ] 



I. The Thrushes and their Allies. 



[A glance at the Turdinae sub-family (p. 112) will show 

 that it includes not alone such outwardly similar birds as 

 the thrush, fieldfare, and ring-ousel, but also distinct forms 

 like the redbreast and nightingale. Five residents ; eight 

 regular visitors; ten irregular visitors.] 



The ]\Iistle-thrush, largest of the group, is common in 



all the wooded districts of Great Britain and Ireland, 



its range extending to the Hebrides. Larger 



tliru8h"or than the common thrush, this sj^ecies is dis- 



Storm- tinguished by the streaks of white on the 



^^^ * wings and the lighter hue of the breast. Its 



favourite food consists of berries and snails ; and, although 



no migratory bird, it will nevertheless wander far in search 



of these. The trivial names of this bird are not entirely 



satisfactory, since, although fond of them with the rest, it 



does not at any season make a special feature of eating 



the berries of the mistletoe.^ Nor has it any connection 



with storms, though it is true that, like many other birds, 



it will raise its voice in rivalry during a gale. 

 v^oicG 



How any one living in the country could 



question the fact of this bird singing it would be hard 



to say, yet not only did a lively correspondence on the 



subject fill many columns of a north - country paper as 



recently as last February (1897), but a similar controversy 



evidently engaged the attention of the naturalists of a 



1 Tn the south-western counties it is known as the "holm thrush" 

 (holm = holly). 



