THE MISSEL THRUSH. 11 



to frighten them away. There was a nest in a tall oak-tree 

 at Paxton in the spring of 1872, and one morning my 

 attention was attracted by the old birds screaming very 

 loudly, flying round the tree, and dashing into it at intervals. 

 On going forward I observed a squirrel near the nest, and 

 the enraged parents kept darting down at it until they forced 

 it to descend to the ground. 



The Missel Thrush breeds early in the season, beginning 

 to build about the end of March, or towards the middle of 

 April, and choosing for the site of its nest the fork of an 

 oak, elm, beech, or fir tree, in a wood or park, and often at 

 a considerable height from the ground. It, however, some- 

 times selects a bush for its home ; and as an example of this, 

 I may mention that a pair built in one not above five feet 

 high, on the lawn in front of my house, in the spring of 

 1874. The nest, which is large, is often placed in a 

 conspicuous and exposed part of the tree, so that it is 

 easily observed. It is composed of a variety of substances, 

 such as moss, dry grass, straw, and coarse stems of plants, 

 coated inside with a layer of mud, and lined with fine dry 

 grass.^ The eggs, which are four or five in number, are 

 rather larger than those of the Blackbird, and are greenish 

 or reddish white, spotted with brown and lilac. Two broods 

 are often reared in the season. 



The food of this Thrush consists of worms, slugs, and 

 snails, with fruit and berries of various kinds, including 

 those of the service tree, hawthorn, holly, and mistletoe, 

 from the last mentioned of which it is said to derive its 

 common name. 



Although this bird is resident with us all the year as 

 a species, many doubtless migrate southwards in autumn, 



^ Mr. Hardy, writing in 1 840, says :— ' ' One built its nest in the copestone of a 

 dyke this summer in Bowshiel Dean. The lower part of the nest was composed 

 almost entirely of the tree lichen, Evernia prunaslri." — MS. Notes. 



