28 BIRDS OF CHESHIRE. 
as to drive it discomfited from the little wood in which 
they were nesting. 
In autumn its numbers are supplemented by the 
arrival of migratory birds, and Mistle Thrushes may 
then often be seen flying in small straggling flocks high 
overhead, uttering their harsh, distinctive notes. In 
common with the other Thrushes, it is very partial to 
the ripe berries of the mountain-ash. 
SONG THRUSH. 
TuRDUS Musicus, Linnzeus. 
Throstle. 
Throughout Cheshire, from the sea-coast to the hills 
in the east, the Song Thrush is everywhere abundant. 
The large area of land under cultivation, plentifully 
supplied with woods and coverts, affords it ideal 
conditions of existence. It is met with high up on 
the hillsides in the wooded cloughs. Sparrow Hawks 
and other raptorial birds which would keep down its 
numbers are under the ban of the game-preserver; and 
though thousands of Thrushes’ nests are robbed every 
year by country children, the bird seems to be on the 
increase. 
In its choice of a nesting-site this species is very 
catholic. Whitethorn hedges and evergreens, such as 
holly or rhododendron, are most frequently selected, 
but nests are often placed in forest trees, either in a 
fork high above the ground, on a horizontal branch, 
or among the roots of some fallen monarch. The 
hedgebanks, so common in Cheshire lanes, are often 
chosen; and occasionally a ledge in a deserted out- 
building, or even the bare ground, is used. 
Karly in April, before the foliage is thick, the large nest 
