MISSEL THRUSH. 181 



and as the Missel Tlirusli is a decided feeder on berries 

 generally, it may have acquired the name of Holm Thrush 

 from feeding on the Holm berry. 



This bird is not observed to be partial to low flat 

 land, near water, to which the word Holm or Holme is also 

 applied. 



The Missel Thrush is one of the earliest of our breeders, 

 beginning to build in April, and fixes its nest in the fork of a 

 branch of a tree, frequently that of an apple tree in an orchard. 

 The nest is composed externally of lichen, moss, dry grass, 

 and coarse stems of other plants. This outside framework 

 is coated internally with a layer of mud, and this again is 

 covered with a lining of fine grasses. The nest is some- 

 times very artfully concealed by assimilating the colour of 

 the materials to that of the branch on which it is placed ; 

 but, on the contrary, it is sometimes placed in the most 

 conspicuous and exposed situations, so that it is scarcely 

 possible to pass the nest without discovering it. The eggs 

 are four or five in number, of a greenish white colour, 

 spotted with red brown ; sometimes the ground colour is 

 reddish white, spotted with dark red brown ; the length 

 one inch three lines, the breadth eleven lines, but occasion- 

 ally varying in size. The female while sitting exhibits much 

 of the boldness of character observed at that season in the 

 male, and has been known to fly at the face of a man who 

 disturbed her. Two broods are produced in the season, and 

 during autumn and winter small parties may be seen together, 

 probably composed of the parent birds and their young birds 

 of the year. 



The flight of the Missel Thrush is rapid, but irregular 

 and uneven, being performed by a succession of jerks. Its 

 food is various soft-bodied animals, as worms, slugs, &c. ; 

 some fruit in the season ; and it is also a most decided feeder 

 on berries of all sorts, including those of the misseltoe, 



