BIEDS OF BRITAIN 



THE MISSEL THRUSH 



Turdus viscivorus, Linnaeus 



It was by the sea-coast, on a bleak and wind-swept hill 

 covered with short grass and patches of heather and gorse, 

 that our attention was first directed to a light-coloured bird 

 of fair size which rose at our feet from behind a tussock, 

 and uttering a curious wild churring note, darted away 

 against the strong south-west wind. Well has he earned his 

 name of " Storm Cock " from his wild note and rapid flight. 

 Watch him now, sustained by quick, continuous wing-beats, 

 and now as the wind slackens carried along with a dipping 

 motion and outstretched wings, the whole bird suggestive 

 of strength and activity, and as fickle and changeable in 

 his moods as the elements among which he delights to live. 

 It was in June that I first saw him, when he and others 

 of his kind, who but a few months before were callow and 

 helpless nestlings, were learning from the summer gale a 

 taste of what they would have to face when winter brought 

 its storms and tempests, for the Storm Cock is no migrant 

 to warmer climes and softer breezes, but leads a regular 



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