122 TURDUS VISCIVORUS. 



summer ; and in winter occur in flocks in the fields. In 

 England the species is generally distributed, but is less common 

 in the northern than in the southern counties. 



" The Missel Thrush,"" says Mr Weir, in a communication 

 dated 21st March 1837, "is the earliest songster of the spring. 

 Even on those cold and rainy or snowy evenings in which all 

 the rest of the musical tribe are mute, we hear him, perched 

 on the top of some high tree, pouring forth his strong, shrill, 

 monotonous song. It is not generally known, at least I do not 

 recollect of having seen it mentioned in books of natural history, 

 that the Missel Thrush is one of the most voracious of our 

 native birds. Having shot all the Magpies and Carrion Crows 

 which infested my immediate neighbourhood, I could not con- 

 ceive for a long time what had been the cause of the destruction 

 of so many young birds and eggs, until I observed one of them 

 flying out of a nest in which he had been carrying on his mur- 

 derous operations. As I was passing by Balbairdie Loch, I 

 saw one flying with something in its bill. It was, I suppose, 

 a young Hedge-Sparrow, as the robber was keenly pursued by 

 an old one, which attempted again and again to make it drop 

 its prey ; but alas ! to no jDurpose, for it carried it oiF to its 

 nest, where it no doubt afforded an agreeable repast to its 

 greedy young ones. One forenoon, wdien going to my garden, 

 I looked into the nest of a Thrush which was built on the 

 branch of a small spruce tree a few feet from the ground, and 

 contained four young ones nearly fledged. Having returned in 

 the course of a few hours I again peeped into it, when, to my 

 astonishment, I beheld one of them severely cut in the breast 

 and almost at the point of death. I could not imagine what 

 had been the cause of this sudden catastrophe. The gardener, 

 however, told me that whilst he was watching his bees, he 

 heard the male and female thrushes setting up the most doleful 

 screams. He immediately ran to the spot in the expectation 

 of seeing a cat or a weasel ; but in place of them he beheld a 

 Missel Thrush in the very act of killing one of their brood. So 

 determined was it in carrying into eftect its daring attempt at 

 murder that he got within a few yards of it before it observed 

 him. A few days after this, the same person, in company with 



