THE SONG-THRUSH. 213 
TURDUS MUSICUS. 
THE SONG-THRUSH. 
(PLate 8.) 
Turdus minor, Briss. Orn. il. p. 205 (1760). 
Turdus musicus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 292 (1766); et auctorum plurimorum— 
Latham, Bechstein, Pallas, Temminck, Naumann, Newton, Gould, Gray, Sharpe, 
Dresser, &c. 
Turdus iliacus, Linn. apud Bodd. Table Pl. Enl. p. 24 (1783). 
Turdus pilaris, Zinn. apud Bodd. Table Pl. Enl. p. 29 (1788). 
Sylvia musica (Linn.), Savi, Orn. Tose. i. p. 211 (1827). 
Merula musica (Zinn.), Selby, Brit. Orn. i. p. 162 (1833). 
Nliacus musicus (Linn.), Des Murs, Traité d’Ool. p. 292 (1860). 
The Song-Thrush breeds throughout Great Britain and Ireland in all 
well-cultivated districts, or where the ground is sufficiently wooded to 
afford it shelter. In the extreme north of Scotland, although birch trees 
abound, the bird is rare, but appears to be increasing in numbers. It 
breeds in the Orkney Islands; but its nest has not yet been taken in the 
Shetlands. On the Hebrides, even to the wild isolated rock of St. Kilda, 
the Song-Thrush is found, and in many of the islands it is quite numerous. 
In Skye it is one of the commonest of land birds, and is sometimes seen 
far amongst the wide stretches of heath where not a tree or bush is visible. 
The bird also breeds on the rocky heights of Ailsa Craig, where its only 
nesting-sites are amongst the rocks and caves. 
The breeding-range of the Song-Thrush extends across the Palearctic 
Region from the Atlantic as far east as the valley of the Yenesay and Lake 
Baikal, but the bird is much commoner in the west than in the east. In 
Norway, probably in consequence of the influence of the Gulf-stream, it 
is found up to, and occasionally beyond, the Arctic circle; but in Siberia 
it is rarely met with north of lat. 60°. In Southern Europe it breeds very 
sparingly, and only at high elevations. In England the Song-Thrush is 
only a partial migrant; but on the continent, where the winters are so 
much colder, it leaves the north, like other summer visitors, and repairs 
in great numbers to winter in South Europe and North Africa. In the 
latter continent it has been found wintering as far south as Nubia. The 
Siberian Song-Thrushes apparently winter in South Persia. 
The home of the Song-Thrush is the woods and hillsides, the banks of 
streams, and all sheltered places where brushwood abounds. Near dwell- 
ing-houses the “Throstle” is a common bird, frequenting orchards, 
gardens, and hedgerows; in fact, wherever we find the Blackbird we may 
