Perching Birds. 



7' 



f^A^i 





The Mistle-Thrush. 



under wing-coverts. It is somewhat remark- 

 able that a delicate bird, like the Mistle- 

 Thrush, for, despite its bravado, which gains 

 for it the name of the ' Storm-cock,' it 

 succumbs to a hard season almost as quickly 

 as the Redwing, should be gradually extend- 

 ing its range in Great Britain, notwithstanding 

 the checks which some of our severe winters 

 have imposed upon it. On the continent of 

 Europe it is generally distributed, and it is 

 found as far east as Lake Baikal, while it also 

 breeds in the mountains of Central Asia and 

 in the higher ranges of the Himala3as. 

 Excepting in the breeding-season, when the 

 Mistle-Thrush makes its nest very earl}' in 

 the year and is, as a rule, easily discovered 

 by its clamourous protest against intrusion 

 upon its chosen domain, the bird is a shy and 

 timid species, but in stormy weather it mounts to the top of a tree, and shouts its 

 melody, which is vastly inferior to that of the Song-Thrush. The nest is of the 

 usual Thrush-like type and is placed in the bough of a small elm or in an evergreen 

 bush, but the most beautiful examples of the bird's architecture are to be seen 

 when the nest is built in an old lichen-covered fruit-tree, when the outside of the 

 nest is also covered with lichen so as to 

 assimilate to its surroundings. The eggs 

 are four or five in number, and are 

 distinguished by the stone grey or clay 

 ground-colour, with markings of reddish 

 brown, and under-lying spots of light 

 brown or dull grey. 



This is the handsomest 

 of the European Thrushes, 

 and is a winter visitor to 

 Great Britain. It has white 

 axillaries and under wing- 

 coverts, like the Mistle-Thrush, but far 

 more distinct, and this white is a con- 

 spicuous feature as the bird sits up in the 

 sunshine or flies through the wintrj' air. 

 It is found breeding throughout northern 

 Europe, and in central Russia and eastern The Fieldfare. 



THE 

 FiELDF.^RE. 



(TjH'rfKS 



pilaris.) 



