NATURE'S CAROL SINGERS. 



THE MISSEL THRUSH. 



THE Missel Thrush 

 measures some- 

 thing like eleven 

 and a half inches 

 in length, and is 

 the largest mem- 

 ber of its family 

 inhabiting our is- 

 lands. It is, per- 

 haps, more nu- 

 merous now than 

 it has ever been 

 before, owing to 

 the long succession of mild, open winters 

 we have enjoyed and the fact that during 

 the last century it has greatly increased 

 its breeding range both to the North and 

 West. In 1800 it was unknown in Ire- 

 land, but is now abundant in that 

 country. 



On its upper parts the Missel Thrush 



is ash-brown in colour, and bumsh-white 



below, marked with blackish-brown spots. 



It may always be distinguished from 



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