196 BRITISH BIRDS 



The Missel Thrush. 



This is the largest member of the Thrush family that 

 frequents the British Isles, measuring from n to 12 inches 

 in full length, of which 3! or 4 inches belong to the tail. 

 The bill is about an inch long, of a dark brown colour, 

 but the base of the lower mandible is yellow. All the 

 upper surface of the body is brownish-grey, with a ruddy 

 tint on the lower back and rump; the sides of the head 

 and the under parts are creamy-white, with black spots of 

 triangular shape on the breast and oval spots elsewhere, 

 these being of a blackish- grey-brown shade. 



The female is paler in all her colouring, but otherwise 

 resembles the male. 



An albino has been occasionally met with. 



The Missel Thrush is found all over Europe, and is 

 common in the British Isles, where it is resident all the 

 year round, although on some parts of the Continent it 

 is migratory. 



In confinement, being a large bird with a good appetite 

 and proportionate voidance, it needs a good-sized cage ; 

 but is better suited for a garden aviary, where it looks well and 

 thrives exceedingly, than for the house. It should, however, 

 only be lodged with birds of its own or a larger size, 

 for among smaller ones it is apt to be somewhat spiteful. 



Both in its wild state and in captivity it feeds and 

 should be fed the same as the Song Thrush, and, contrary 

 to what might be expected from its name, evinces no 

 remarkable partiality for the berries of the mistletoe. 



The nest is variously placed, sometimes in a bush, and 

 sometimes on a bare horizontal bough of some tree over- 

 hanging water : grass, moss and lichens form its founda- 

 tion, which is firmly cemented with mud to its support, 

 and the inside is lined with fine grass, moss and hair. 

 The eggs, which are four or five in number, are larger 

 than those of the other Thrushes, and are of a greenish- 

 white colour speckled with brownish-red spots, especially 

 about the larger end. 



The young birds are greyer and more spotted than 

 their elders; they are easily brought up by hand, and will 



