THRUSH 



THROSTLE SONG THRUSH COMMON THRUSH MAVIS. 



PLATE CI. 



Turdus musicus, LINNJEUS. 



Merula musica, SELBY. 



THE Thrush usually commences to build in the latter end 

 of March, and the eggs are deposited earlier or later 

 in April, though sometimes not until May, according to the 

 season. Nests are known to have been begun even so 

 early as the middle of February, and young birds have been 

 found in March. Mrs. Harriet Murchison, of Bicester, Ox- 

 fordshire, has forwarded me a specimen of a nest with four 

 eggs, which was found at that place on the 6th of January 

 1853. A second brood is generally reared in the season. The 

 female is extremely attentive to her charge, and will sit on 

 the nest until quite closely approached, and will sometimes 

 suffer herself to be taken sooner than forsake it. If disturbed 

 or alarmed, she will testify her anxiety by flying round with 

 ruffled feathers and outspread tail, uttering a note of alarm, 

 and violently snapping the bill. 



The nest is a very bulky structure, composed of moss, small 

 twigs, straws, leaves, roots, stems of plants, and grass, lined 

 with a thick layer of clay and decayed wood. It is placed in 

 * hedge or thick bush of any kind at a small height from 



