THE SONG THRUSH 



TURDUS MUSICUS 



We now reach the typical Thrushes, and of them 

 the Song Thrush has an unquestioned right to 

 premier place. Of all our larger birds of song it is 

 not only the most familiar, but unquestionably the 

 most popular favourite. He is the one vernal 

 chorister that appeals most widely to the multitude. 

 The Song Thrush is one of the most generally dis- 

 tributed of British birds, and may be found, at least 

 as a summer resident, in all parts of the country, 

 with the trifling exception of some of the wilder 

 Hebrides and the Shetlands. Outside our area the 

 range of this species is a somewhat wide one, em- 

 bracing the whole of Europe and Asia, as far east 

 certainly as the valley of the Yenesay, and as far 

 north in the extreme west as the Arctic Circle, but 

 not higher than latitude 60° in the extreme east. 

 In South Europe, North Africa, and South Persia 

 it either ascends mountains to breed, or is a winter 

 migrant only. Its southern limits in Africa appear 

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