96o THRUSH 



Outer Hebrides, though not Shetland — seem to emigrate as soon as 

 they are fit to journey, and at a later period they are followed by 

 most of their parents, so that many parts of the kingdom are 

 absolutely bereft of this species from October to the end of January. 

 On the continent of Europe the autumnal influx of the bii'ds bred 

 in the North is regarded with much interest, as has been already 

 stated (Migration, p. 551), for they are easily ensnared and justly 

 esteemed for the table, while their numbers make their appearance 

 in certain districts a matter of great importance. 



The second species to which the name applies is distinguished 

 as the Mistletoe-Thrush, corrupted into Missel-Thrush (p. 575).^ 

 This is a larger species than the last, of paler tints, and conspicuous 

 in flight by the white patches on its outer tail-feathers. Of bold dis- 

 position, and fearless of the sleety storms of spring,^ as of predatory 

 birds, the cock will take his stand on a tall tree, " like an enchanter 

 calling up the gale" (as Knapp happily wrote), and thence with 

 loud voice pi'oclaim in wild and discontinuous notes the fei'vour of 

 his love for his mate ; nor does that love cease when the breeding- 

 season is past, since this species is one of those that appear to pair 

 for life, and even when, later in the year, it gathers in small flocks, 

 husband and wife may be seen in close company. In defence of 

 nest and offspring, too, few birds are more resolute, and the Daw, 

 Pie or Jay that approaches with an ill intent speedily receives 

 treatment that causes a rapid retreat, Avhile even the marauding cat 

 finds the precincts of the " master of the coppice " {Fen y llwyn), as 

 the Welsh name this Thrush, unsuitable for its stealthy operations. 

 The connexion of this bird with the mistletoe, which is as old as 

 the days of Aristotle, is no figment, as some have tried to maintain. 

 Not only is it exceedingly fond of the luscious viscid berries, but it 

 seems to be almost the only bird that will touch them. Of other 

 British Thrushes, the Fieldfare (p. 249), Eedwing (p. 777) and 

 the Blackbird (p. 42) and Ring-OusEL (p. 666), have been before 

 noticed in these pages, as has been (under the first of those headings) 

 the so-called "Robin" (pp. 250, 791) of North America. 



^ There is no doubt of the bird taking its name from the plant Mistletoe 

 [Viscum album), about the spelling of which there can be no uncertainty — A.-S. 

 Misteltan, the final syllable originally signifying "twig," and surviving in the 

 modern " tine," as of a fork or of a deer's antler. 



^ It is known also in many districts as the "Storm-cock," from its habit of 

 singing in squally weather that silences almost all other birds, and "Holm- {i.e. 

 Holly-) Thrush," while the harsh cries it utters when angry or alarmed have 

 given it other local names, as "Screech," "Shrite," and "Skrike," all traceable 

 to the Anglo-Saxon Scrie. And it is likely that the word Shrike (p. 843) may 

 have been originally applied to the Mistletoe-Thrush. In several of the Anglo- 

 Saxon Vocabularies dating from the 8th to the 11th century, as printed by 

 Thomas Wright, the word Scric, which can be hardly anything else than the 

 early form of "Shrike," is glossed Turdus. 



