CHAPTER XII 



THE MIGRATIONS OF THE SONG-THRUSH, TURDUS MUSICUS 



The migrations of the Song-Thrush, though of a very 

 varied nature as a whole, have been selected as being in 

 the main typical of those performed by the group of 

 British migratory birds which have been defined as 

 Partial Migrants — species some of the individuals of 

 which remain throughout the year in our islands, while 

 others only spend the summer with us. 



In addition to being a resident and a summer visitor, 

 this favourite songster is also a winter visitor to the 

 British area, a bird of passage along our shores in the 

 spring and autumn, and lastly, a winter migrant — a 

 fugitive evicted from its usual haunts by severe weather. 

 Indeed, the Song-Thrush furnishes us with a most 

 excellent example of the complex nature of the phenomena 

 of bird-migration as observed in Great Britain and 

 Ireland ; and its various movements cover nearly the 

 whole year. 



Autumn Emigration of British Sumfuer Visitors. — 

 Though this Thrush is a permanent resident in certain 

 districts, more especially in the gardens and immediate 

 neighbourhood of cities and towns, where even in Scot- 

 land a considerable number remain throughout the 

 year, such residents form only a moiety of our native 

 birds of this species. At the end of summer and in 



