BROWN BIRDS WITH SPOTTED 

 BREASTS. 



MISSEL-THRUSH —Form, similar to the Throstle 

 (plate 33). Length, 11 inches. Upper parts brown, 

 with an ashy cast ; under parts huffish, heavily marked 

 with detached black spots. Resident. 



Eggs. — 4-5, greenish-white, blotched and spotted 

 with reddish - brown and lilac; l'25x'85 inch 

 (plate 124). 



Nest. — Of dry grass, moss, and wool, lined with 

 fine grass, and placed usually next the trunk of a 

 tree, in a fork formed by a leading branch. 



Distribution. — General throughout England, Wales, 

 and Ireland ; less common in Scotland, markedly so 

 in approaching the north. 



This is the largest member of the Thrush family. 

 Unlike the smaller Throstle, it does not frequent 

 our gardens or skulk under cover ; it is a bird of 

 the open fields, seeking safety in flight rather than 

 in hiding. When building, however, this bird, 

 generally so wary, often places its nest in the 

 fork of some low orchard tree, or elsewhere in the 

 neighbourhood of man. It is seldom alone, a pair or 

 a small family party hopping about irregularly in 

 the grass fields or ploughed lands where they feed, 

 pausing at times to assume a rigid, erect attitude 

 indicative of acute attention. When disturbed, the 



