Thrushes and Blackbirds 103 



crystals, vary the monotony of the grey rock that crops up 

 with ever increasing frequency as the mountain is ascended ; 

 but the long ranges of cliff are singularly devoid of bird 

 life. Upon the last of them before the summit is reached, 

 a Missel Thrush, Tresglen y crawel, or Pen y llwn, " Master 

 of the copse," had built her nest, on a ledge, at the foot of 

 a rock on which a Raven might more reasonably have been 

 expected. I saw the recently fledged thrushes flitting about 

 the crag in May, a curious site in which to find such birds, 

 probably a mile beyond the nearest trees. 



The Missel Thrush is numerous in the valley during 

 summer, building in the gardens in the village, as well 

 as in many of the wooded dingles on the lower hills ; 

 but is almost absent in winter, its numbers probably then 

 going to swell those flocks so often met with, at that season, 

 in England. It returns to Llanuwchllyn early in the 

 spring, adding its boisterous whistle to the morning chorus 

 about the beginning of March, a week or two after the Song 

 Thrush, Tresglen^ or Bronfraith, has begun singing, and 

 shortly before the Blackbird, Mwyakhen, or Aderyn du^ has 

 started. The Missel Thrush delights to sing from the 

 topmost branches of a tree, and, like the Blackbird, he 

 frequently begins to pipe before reaching his post. The 

 Blackbird, also, as frequently continues his song, for a short 

 time, after he has left his perch, but the common Thrush I 

 have never heard attempt to sing upon the wing. Of the 

 three, the vocal efforts of the Blackbird are decidedly the 

 most finished production, and from the subdued tones in 

 which they are often uttered, the performer seems to be 

 quite well aware of the fact, fearing not but that his melody 

 will arrest the ear, and tempt the passer-by to stay and 

 listen. In addition to his better known whistle, the 

 Blackbird has also a variety of sweet warbling notes, 

 recalling part of the Dipper's song, but given forth in so 

 low a strain as scarcely to be audible unless he is very 

 near. I have sometimes listened to a Blackbird singing 

 continuously in this subdued voice for a minute or two at 

 a time ; and then,i with momentary pauses, perhaps for 

 breath, the song has been pursued for ten minutes. No 



