36 RURAL BIRD LIFE. 



an exception in the Missel-thrush, for on no account do 

 you hear his tuneful lay cheering his sitting mate, and 

 the incubation is performed in silence, a fact perhaps not 

 observable in any other British songster. 



The popular belief that Missel-thrushes drive all 

 birds away from the neighbourhood of their nest, and 

 rear their young apart from the company of their kindred, 

 ought to be received with explanation. I have often 

 found the nests of the Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Magpie, 

 Wren, Thrush, Ring Ousel, and Blackbird, within a few 

 yards of the nest of the Missel-thrush ; all living peace- 

 fully together, and each performing its domestic duties 

 in company. I have seen the nest of the Missel-thrush 

 in the branches of a tall mountain ash : the nest con- 

 tained four eggs. In a small hole in the trunk a Redstart 

 was sitting upon her eggs, while in a recess amongst the 

 roots of the tree a Wren was building her cave -like home, 

 and a Magpie was also engaged in like manner amongst 

 the branches of a wide-spreading oak close by. But, 

 gentle reader, mistake not these remarks, I pray thee. 

 If the nest of the Missel-thrush is menaced by any pre- 

 datory bird by the way quite a different matter the 

 parent bird will strive to repel its approaches, as will 

 most birds, more or less, when placed in similar cir- 

 cumstances ; and these pugnacious motions are un- 

 doubtedly the cause of this erroneous and misleading- 

 statement. Where birds are closely observed the utmost 

 harmony is found to exist between them, when employed 

 in bringing up their young. Although their nests be but 

 a few feet apart, each performs its allotted task in a 

 manner harmonising with the instincts with which 

 Nature has endowed it. 



In the early autumn months the Missel-thrush con 

 gregates into little parties, and by the latter end of 



