The Missel Thrush 



IT will not be easy to confuse this bird with 

 its better known relative, the common 

 song thrush, if the following simple facts 

 are remembered. It is nearly three inches 

 longer, much greyer in colour on the back, 

 and shows a white mark on either side of its 

 tail whilst flying. 



Its song is not a great vocal accomplish- 

 ment, but has the merit of being uttered 

 when the weather is so rough that it has 

 silenced every other musician of the grove. 

 In fact the " Storm-cock/' as the bird is fre- 

 quently called, seems to glory in a gale. 

 During such weather he will sit on the 

 topmost branch of some tall tree and pour 

 forth his defiant notes heedless of the 

 howling wind and lashing rain. 



He commences to sing in December or 



January in England, and may be heard as 



late as the end of June in Scotland. 



The nest is made of slender twigs, grass 

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