106 TuiiDiD.i:. 



pairs remaiued throughout the summer, aucl doubtless were breed- 

 ing ; but I did not find the nest/' 



095. Turdus viscivorus, Linn. Tloe Missel-Thrush. 



Turdus hodgsoui, Lafr., Jerd. B, hid. i, p. 531 ; Hume, Roiu/h Draft 

 N. 8f E. no. 368. 



I, as yet, only know of the Missel-Thrush breeding in the valleys 

 of the Beas and Sutlej, at elevations of from GoOO to 8<H)0 feet. 

 I have only taken one nest myself, but have had several sent me, 

 and I find by my notes that the earliest was taken on the 6th April, 

 the latest on the 22nd of June. The nests are large deep cups, 

 very like those of the Blackbird's, always placed, as far as my ex- 

 perience and information goes, in forks of trees, at no great eleva- 

 tion from the ground. The core is composed of clay and grass- 

 stems, founded on a lot of dry leaves, fern, &c. ; externally there is 

 a very thick coating of moss, grass, and lichen, while internally 

 there is a thick lining of soft grass. The nest 1 obtained above 

 Juggut Hook, in the valley of the Beas, measured hi situ 8 inches 

 in diameter and nearly 6 inches in height externally. 



The cavity was 4 inches in diameter and nearly 3 deep. 



Major Wardlaw Eamsay says, writing of Afghanistan : — " On 

 the 22nd May I found a nest containing four young birds nearly 

 fledged. The nest was situated in a small deodar, about 4 feet 

 from the ground, and seemed in every respect like that of a Black- 

 bird in England. I returned a few days after to the spot, but 

 found the nest gone; it had been taken by a soldier, in whose pos- 

 session I found it afterwards. He kept the young birds for about 

 a fortnight, when they died. 1, however, was able to determine 

 the species for cei-tain." 



The eggs, which I have now repeatedly received from near Kote- 

 gurh and higher up in the valley of the Sutlej, are motlerately broad 

 ovals, somewhat obtuse at both ends, and exhibit but little gloss. 

 The ground-colour varies from pale pink to a pale greenish grey, 

 or even very pale green, and they are moderately thickly speckled 

 and spotted (most densely, as a rule, towards the larger end) with 

 primary markings of brownish red and secondary ones of pale pur- 

 plish pink, which often seem to underlie the surface of the egg. 

 In some cases the brownish-red spots are so deep and intense that 

 they almost look as if they were black, but it is only occasional 

 spots and never the whole body of them that assume this deep 

 tint. 



In length they vary from 1-17 to 1*26 inch, and in breadth from 

 0"88 to 0'93 inch ; but the average of twenty eggs is 1*21 by a little 

 more than 0*9 inch. 



