62 



THE NATURE BOOK 



ference observable in plumage between 

 the Fieldfare and the Missel Thrush, Red- 

 wing, and Song Thrush, and the fact that 



YOUNG MISSEL THRUSHES. 



the two former are generally seen in com- 

 panies and the latter two alone, the alti- 

 tude at which the Fieldfare and Redwing 

 fiy is usually greater than that indulged 

 in by the Song and Missel Thrush. Its 

 strong and undulating method of moving 

 through the air from place to place is dis- 

 tinctive of the bold " Stormcock." 



In nesting habits. Song and Missel Thrush 

 are so far similar, in that both com- 

 mence to build early in the year. Both 

 make large and conspicuous nests fre- 

 quently in the 

 vicinity of houses ; 

 but there the re- 

 semblance stops, 

 for though the 

 outside materials 

 used in either case 

 may be somewhat 

 similar, the Song 

 Thrush lines her 

 lighter nest with 

 a j)ractically air- 

 tight plaster of 

 mud or cowdung 

 and rotten wood, 

 and thereupon de- 

 posits her black- 

 dcjtted sky - blue 

 eggs. The Missel 

 Thrush mav utilise 

 some such daubing 

 sparingly ere her 

 cradle is half con- 



structed, but she proceeds to finish off 

 with an abundance of fine dry — some- 

 times only half-dead — grass, raising a 

 more solid structure with not 

 so deep a cup as the Ma\ish 

 delights to brood in. The 

 necessity of these differences — 

 bar the mud-lining, perhaps — 

 may be found in that the 

 ^Missel Thrush frequently builds 

 in the large crotches of tall 

 and leafless trees, whilst the 

 Song Thrush chooses generally 

 less exposed situations, amongst 

 more slender branches, which 

 demand a lighter and deeper 

 nest. 



The better concealment af- 

 forded by the site usually 

 selected by the latter bird — 

 frequently amongst evergreens 

 — precludes the necessity of any such at- 

 tempt at protective coloration, of egg- 

 shell or nest exterior, as is indulged in by 

 the Missel Thrush, whose eggs are of a much 

 more subdued shade both as to ground 

 colour and markings ; and she also resorts 

 to the artifice of weaving in and around 

 her nest pieces of grey-hued lichen, which 

 is parasitic upon the surrounding branches. 

 There are exceptions to every rule, and 

 so it is not surprising sometimes to find 

 the nest of this otherwise warv bird, not 



YOUNG SONG THRUSHES. 



