248 THE MISSEL- THRUSH. 



post, and yet it was not easily observed, as if instinct had 

 warned them to have no projecting roots or straws ; but as 

 nothing in the shape of a nest can escape the Argus eye of the 

 bird-nesting schoolboy, the next time I passed the nest was 

 gone. When in a wood, on the 23rd of June 1889, I saw a 

 young missel thrush lying dead at the foot of a Scotch fir tree. 

 On looking, I saw the nest in the breek about 12 feet up. It 

 was composed of dry grass and moss — so like the colour of the 

 tree as made it difficult to be seen. I climbed up : there were 

 only three raw young ones in the nest. The one below told of a 

 scuffle with magpies. The wee things gaped for food. Alas I 

 I thought, where innocence or " ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be 

 wise." I went back eight days after this. They were nearly 

 ripe ; but instead of stretching up their heads and gaping for 

 food, they crouched down as close as possible, for, with more 

 sense, they apprehended danger — a characteristic with all young 

 birds. When very young and blind they wriggle senseless ; a 

 little older they thrust up their long necks and gape for food. 

 As they get ripe they crouch down to escape detection, and 

 when fully ripe fly out and scramble off if looked at. From 

 my notes written in 1855, I see that the old city has made 

 considerable progress in house-building between the old Castle 

 and the Witch Lake Brae ; for what is now a stretch of 

 imposing mansions and gardens was then all under the plough. 

 When making my collection of birds and eggs I find that " on 

 December 13th, 1855, I shot a fine female missel thrush in 

 that park on the Scaurs near the old Castle. It was feeding, 

 along with several others, amongst the barley stubble." Also, 

 " On the 3rd of February 1856 I observed five missel thrushes 

 amongst a dozen of mavises, feeding amongst the turnips near the 

 Witch Lake," which shows that, like the fieldfare and redwing, 

 the missel thrush congregates in small flocks during winter. 

 When hard pressed it feeds on hips, haws, snails, and anything 

 it can find, and being a hardy bird, stands the test of a severe 

 winter better than the rest of the thrushes. It gets its name of 

 missel, or misseltoe thrush, from feeding on the berries of the 

 mistletoe (about the time when young ladies are being kissed 

 beneath them at Christmas). It also feeds on the berries of 

 the ivy in spring, these being ripe in March and April, but it is 

 not so destructive to fruit in gardens as other thrushes in 

 summer. Therefore it is wrongfully persecuted by gardeners, 

 which is a pity, as it loves to build near them, as if seeking 

 shelter from its natural enemy, the magpie. 



