TUKDID.i:. 153 



superior length of the beak enables them to obtain 

 food beneath the surface of the soil. Thus we see 

 them accompanying the Crows during autumn^ in 

 large flocks^ spread over new-ploughed fields, and 

 traversing the ground in search of the same kind of 

 food. The Thrushes devour fruits quite as much as 

 they do insects. In sweetness, compass, and versa- 

 tility, their song surpasses that of most of the 

 feathered race. These birds are found in all parts of 

 the world ; they are of a shy disposition, and more 

 or less migratory. The European species retire in 

 large flocks to temperate regions in the winter 

 season, returning to the northern countries as sum- 

 mer approaches. Some frequent the forests, out- 

 skirts of woods or thickets, and bushes in meadows 

 and pastures, while others retreat to rocky, moun- 

 tainous districts. Worms, larvae of insects, and 

 mollusks form their chief summer subsistence ; while 

 in the winter they j^hick the berries of various plants. 

 Many of them utter a loud whistling note, which in 

 certain seasons is exchanged for a pleasing song, 

 poured forth from the highest branches of small 

 trees. 



The t}^3e of this sub -family is — 



The Missel Thrush (Turdufi vischwrus). Of all the 

 Thrushes, this species is the most extensively spread 

 over the old Continents ; bemg not only found in Europe, 

 but also in the Himalaya mountains, and the high 

 lands of Asia, at an altitude which affords a temperature 

 similar to that of our own climate. Thinly dispersed 

 over the British isles, the Missel Thrush is a solitary 

 and unsocial bird, differing considerably in its habits 

 from the common favourite, the Song Thrush, which 

 delights to dwell in the cultivated precuicts of our 

 shrubberies and gardens. Affecting remote situations, 

 it retires from liuman society to pasture lands, wide 

 commons, or meadows, skirted by orchards or groves, 

 feeding, like its congeners, on snails, worms, and the 

 larvae of insects during the spring and summer ; but 

 resorting to berries, especially those of the mountain ash. 



