THE MISSEL-THRUSH 



TURDUS VISCIFORUS 



LOCAL names in surrounding counties : " Mavis," 

 shared in common with the Song Thrush. 



STATUS IN BRITISH AVIFAUNA : A widely distributed 

 resident in all wooded districts, and one that has greatly 

 increased its range during the past century. Its numbers 

 are increased in autumn by migratory individuals. 



RADIAL DISTRIBUTION WITHIN FIFTEEN MILES OF ST. 

 PAUL'S : The gratifying improvement of late years in the 

 protection of birds within the London area, resulting so 

 beneficially to many species, seems not to have affected 

 the Missel-Thrush so much as other songsters that could be 

 named. The fact is that the Missel-Thrush is not only very 

 shy, but very wild. He is a countryman of pronounced 

 type, not to be seduced by the many attractions of city life, 

 and it is only in winter that he enters the inner circles 

 of the Metropolitan area, driven thereto by need. In 

 the outer suburbs, however, the bird is much more gene- 

 rally distributed, breeding in many localities and paying 

 fleeting visits to others with tolerable regularity. I have 

 heard its wild song in Regent's Park, in Kensington 

 Gardens, and in Battersea Park, but have no proof that it 

 breeds there, although said to do so. I know that it nests, 

 however, in the Wimbledon and Richmond districts, 

 and at Osterley, Twyford, Harlesden, Wembley, Dollis 

 Hill, Hampstead, Epping, and Wanstead. As we leave 

 the more central districts it becomes commoner, and 

 in surrounding areas, well within the fifteen-mile radius, 

 it is a widely dispersed and well-known resident. 



The Missel-Thrush is not only the largest, but by far the 

 wariest of the British Thrushes. It delights to frequent 

 the tallest trees rather than the shrubs and underwood 

 so dear to the Song Thrush, and when disturbed whilst 



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