THE THRUSHES 



6i 



Both are very early songsters; but, as into sweeter song— sent lorth from 



Its common name proclaims, the former lowlier perch : song immortalised by 



possesses the more musical, if not the Tenn\'son, and reduced to words by 



louder notes. He is also 



the most constant singer 



throughout 



Reference to my note 



books remind me that 



since 1875 I have 



chronicled his tuning 



up in every one of the 



twelve months — though 



not the same bird, or 



in the same year, of 



course ; for seasons 



differ, and during the 



moulting time all song 



birds are silent. 



Missel Thrushes cease 

 singing after their last 

 broods are reared, when 

 they leave their nesting 

 sites and become more 

 or less gregarious, pair- 

 ing and challenging 

 one another again in 

 song with the new year. 

 The nickname o f 

 " Stormcock " has been 

 won by the loud per- 

 sistence of the Missel 

 Thrush in defying wind 

 and rain, whilst pour- 

 ing forth from the top- 



: -^^^i^t 



:» 





FEMALE SONG THKLSH AT NEST \t'ITH YOUNG. 



most spray of tallest tree its loud, sh^rt, 

 oft-repeated strains. Onlv the mild days 

 throughout the winter tempt the Mavish 



MISSEL THRUSH AND NEST. 



many lesser bards before and 

 since : song which varies 

 greatly, not only according to 

 the listener's sense of sound, 

 but also according to the 

 singer's surroundings. For the 

 Thrush is a good mimic, and 

 can vocabulate the t\pical 

 notes of very distant relatives, 

 one — presumal)I\' the same 

 bird — here copying correctly 

 several seasons the Marshland 



for 

 Redshank. 



In flight, beyond the conspicuous dif 



