244 THE MISSEL THRUSH. 



mavis, it feeds upon worms ; but when pressed for its brood it 



will, like the shrike, prey upon young birds. When disturbed 



it gives an angry churr. Its nest is like a blackbird's, but more 



bulky and loosely constructed. It is made of twigs, roots, grass, 



leaves, moss, paper, or anything handy. The inside is roughly 



made of clay or mud, mixed with dry grass, and lined with 



finer grass. The cup is about 4 J inches by 2 J inches deep. It is 



generally in the fork of a tree. The eggs are four or five, flesh 



coloured, with light brown and purple spots ; liker the shrike's 



than any of the thrushes, and easily known from those of any 



other bird. These they defend against all harriers — including 



man — and only yield to superior power. Their chief enemies 



are the thieving magpie and the jackdaw. White of Selborne 



saw " several magpies storm the nest of a missel thrush in his 



garden, and though both thrushes defended their nest with 



great vigour and fought resolutely (numbers prevailed), the 



magpies tore the nest to pieces and swallowed the young alive." 



They usually lay early in April; but on the 11th of May 1855 



I got a nest with four fresh eggs on a high poplar tree at Abbey 



Park. It was bulky and rudely constructed, as if done in a 



hurry, and composed of dry grass, roots, bits of paper, strings, &c. 



I took out three yards of lace and a lady's collar from the mass. 



This was their second nest, as the first was harried of its eggs 



by boys in April on an adjoining tree ; hence in haste to build 



another, they had not been scrupulous about materials. On 



the 8th of June I went again to Abbey Park, as the gardener 



invited me to see several nests and eggs. He showed me a 



missel thrush's nest high up in the fork of a large poplar in 



the avenue ; I saw the bird sitting. He got a ladder and set it 



against the tree quietly, as he wanted to destroy both bird and 



eggs. She raised her head, but sat close while he stealthily 



climbed up to the nest and thrust in his hand to catch her. 



She got away, but he broke one of the eggs in the attempt. 



She did not fly far, but loudly churred and screamed at him, 



and only needed the power to have torn him in pieces. She 



dashed down and struck him in the face, flew up screaming and 



churring, then, as if determined to save her eggs or die in the 



attempt, she flew at him again, still screaming, and struck him 



in the face repeatedly. I had no idea there was such daring 



and energy in the missel thrush ; she actually forced him to 



desist from the robbery of her nest, and kept churring defiantly 



quite close to him on the same branch, daring him to raise his 



head, until, really afraid for his face, he cried down to me — 



