THE THRUSHES 1647 



though in defiance of the elements. A migratory species, and often snared on its 

 autumn journey through Central Europe, the missel thrush is not so subject to ab- 

 normal variations of plumage as is the song thrush. The adult male is grayish 

 brown above, washed with golden on the rump; the sides of the neck are grayish 

 brown, streaked with darker; in the tail the greater part of the outermost feathers 

 are grayish white; the throat is white, finely spotted with brown; and the under sur- 

 face buffy white, closely spotted with black. 



A favorite in many parts of Europe, the song thrush ( T. musicus) 



is in no degree dependent upon man for its existence, being, at least, 

 as much at home among the surf -beaten rocks of the Hebridean shores, as in the 

 parks and orchards of the south of England. Breeding early in the year, or rather 

 commencing to do so, it rears several broods during the season. Most nests are 

 built of stems of grass and fibrous roots, interwoven with moss, and lined with 

 clay; but the prettiest we ever saw was entirely constructed of bright green moss. 

 The nest is often placed in a hedge or low shrub, sometimes in a niche in an ivied 

 wall, sometimes in a fruit tree. Such song thrushes as rear their young amidst the 

 treeless straths of the north of Scotland are content to build their nests upon the 

 ledge of some convenient bowlder of rock, sheltered from the weather. The eggs are 

 bright blue, well spotted with dark brown. The song of the thrush is generally 

 poured forth from the bough of a tree; but in Scotland thrushes often sing from the 

 roofs of houses, and even from a grassy knoll on the hillside. The food of the song 

 thrush consists principally of earthworms and insects, and this bird confers a great 

 benefit upon the gardener by the warfare which it wages against snails. Near the 

 sea, also, it feeds in the winter upon whelks and other small mollusks, which it ob- 

 tains upon the rocks of the shore when the tide has begun to ebb. On the other 

 hand, it must be admitted that the song thrush consumes a great deal of ripe fruit. 

 In Norway it is a special favorite, and holds the same place in Scandinavian poetry 

 that the nightingale does in the songs of other countries. The adult male is dark 

 brown above, tinted with golden brown; the throat is buff; the under parts being 

 golden or buffy white, closely spotted with brown. The song thrushes, which 

 breed in the Hebrides, are of a grayer coloration than more southern specimens. 



The most delightful song to be heard in the solitudes of the forest 



in Northern Europe is that of the redwing ( 7! iliacus) , which gener- 

 ally chants its flute-like melody from the top of a fir tree. Never nesting in colonies 

 the redwing appears to seek the society of the fieldfare, since one is sure to find a 

 pair of redwings wherever a colony of the latter species exists. Professor Collett 

 says that in the eastern part of Norway the redwing builds its nest in bushes and 

 low trees, but in the barren, treeless portions of the west coast of Norway, like 

 the song thrush of the Hebrides, it modifies its habits to suit its surroundings; the 

 nest being often placed upon the ground, between stones, on fences, or in stunted 

 birch trees. Redwings, like other thrushes, show great anxiety if their nest be 

 approached, snapping their bills, and uttering a mournful cry. The eggs of this 

 species are pale bluish green, profusely covered with greenish-brown markings. In 

 the fall of the year redwings unite in large flocks, and many of them cross the 

 North Sea to the British Isles and Germany, migrating chiefly at night, when they 



