124 catalogue of birds. 



The Mistle-Thrush. 



This is the largest of our native Thrushes. I 

 don't know that it has any particular merit as a 

 songster, but its notes are heard early in the year, 

 and in rough, stormy weather ; hence the local 

 name of " Storm-Cock " has arisen ; it is also 

 called the " Holm-Screech," because it feeds largely 

 on the berries of the Holm or Holly, and from its 

 unmusical notes. It is generally distributed over 

 England and Wales and its range is extending in 

 Scotland and Ireland. It favours wooded districts 

 more than others. 



"The nest, which, when placed in the fork of a 

 tree, has a considerable foundation of mud, is lined 

 with dry grasses, and composed externally of bents 

 and lichens, but although the colour of the latter may 

 resemble that of the branch on which the structure 

 is placed — bushes being seldom resorted to — there is 

 often no attempt at concealment. The eggs — four to 

 five in number, are greenish to tawny-white, blotched 

 with reddish-brown and lilac. Its food consists 

 rather of the berries of the yew, holly, mountain 

 ash, hawthorn, ivy, etc., fruit when obtainable, also 

 worms, snails, insects, etc. Although shy of man — 

 except when its nest is approached — the Mistle- 

 Thrush is bold and tyrannical towards other birds, 

 fearlessly attacking Jays, Magpies, and other species 

 superior to its size : occasionally, it has been known 

 to carry off nestlings. This species is found pretty 

 well over the continent of Europe, and as far east- 

 ward as Turkey, the Caucasus, Asia Minor 



