234 HISTORY OF 



the fowler ; the taking them being one of the chief amusements 

 among the gentry where they pass. In short, the change ot 

 country with all this little tribe, is rather a pilgrimage than a 

 journey ; a migration rather of necessity than of choice. 



Having thus given a general idea of the birds of this class, it 

 wUl be proper to give some account of the most remarkable 

 among them. 



CHAP. II. 



OF THE THRUSH, AND ITS AFFINITIES. * 



With the Thrush we may rank the red-wing, the field-fare, the 

 blackbird, the ring-ouzel, and the water-ouzel. These are the 



* We shall here notice the British species of the Thrush genus. The 

 thnish genus is divided by Temminck into two sections, viz. those that in. 

 habit woods and thickets in the lower grounds ; and such as live solitary, iu 

 rocky and mountainous countries. The British species all belong to the 

 first section. 



The Missel-thrush, is the largest of its tribe, and is indigenous in Great 

 Britain ; but its distribution is not so extensive, nor locally so abundant as 

 that of the song-thrush and black-bird. Except during the period of the 

 production of its young, it is a bird of shy and retired habits, frequenting 

 the outskirts of woods, or extensive pastures, where it feeds upon worms 

 and other insects. During the winter, it lives chiefly upon the berries of 

 the misletoe and juniper, with those of the hawthorn, holly, and ivy. It 

 possesses a very powerful note, and, in case of mild weather, its song is 

 often heard as early as the month of January. It usually sings from the 

 highest branch of some tall tree, continuing daily to serenade its mate diu-- 

 jng the time of incubation, but becomes silent as soon as the young birds 

 are h.atched. It is very courageous in the breeding season, attacking in- 

 discriminately all other birds that approach its nest. When disturbed, or 

 engaged in contest, it utters a harsh kind of scream. It seldom mingles 

 with the other species of thrushes, but more frequently associates in small 

 families during the winter, and wliich resort to extensive pasture and 

 meadow lands. The place chosen for nidification is commonly the cleft 

 of a tree, and the nest is formed externally of white moss and coarse grass, 

 intenvoveu with wool, the whole being lined with the fine stalks of dead 

 grasses. In this depositary it lays four or five eggs, of a greenish-wliite, 

 Bpotted,and speckled with chestnut-brown and clove-brow-n. 



The Field.fare. — The summer retreat, or polar migration of this bird, 

 being farther towards the north than the utmost latitude of our island, it 

 becomes a periodical visitant with us, as a return to warmer latitudes on 

 the approach of autumn, or after it lias performed the duties attendant on 



