THRUSHES 125 



It may be that the Bird feedeth upon Misseltoe- 

 Berries, and so is often found there : Which may 

 have given occasion to the Tale. But that \vhich 

 maketh an end of the Question, is that Misseltoe 

 hath been found to put forth under the Boughes and 

 not (onely) above the Boughes : So it cannot be 

 anything which falleth upon the Bough.' " 



This dictum was supported by Browne in his 

 Pseiidoxia Epidcmica, or Inquiries into ]^iilgar 

 Errors (Book H.). 



Mr. Murdoch goes on to say: "Botanists and 

 naturahsts followed these eminent authorities with 

 slavish trust up to comparatively recent times, but 

 the veracitv and perspicacity of the ancients was 

 finallv established by the late Anton Kerner Von 

 Marilaun in his great botanical work, Pflanc;en- 

 lebcn. Of course certain birds often swallow sub- 

 stances thev cannot digest, and these are used as 

 aids to digestion. In the case of the Alistle Thrush, 

 the viscous mass surrounding the undigested berries 

 discharged on a branch, following the laws of gravi- 

 tation, is conveyed to the sides and even under- 

 parts, where it remains cemented, and in due 

 time the seeds take root and flourish in parasitic 

 form." 



It is with something of relief that we turn from 

 these weighty matters to meet the ]\Iistle Thrush in 

 the open air. He is one of the earliest birds to sing. 

 Perched on the topmost bough of some lofty tree, 

 buffeted bv the stormy wind and hail of a winter's 

 morning, the Storm-clock — well named — hurls forth 

 his loud, hoarse notes as though in defiance of the 



