" The Missel Thrush grows bold in the protection of its young." 



THE MISSEL THRUSH 



T 



HIS bird is common nearly all 

 over the British Islands, 

 where trees of any size 

 grow in hedges, parks, 

 woods, and orchards. 

 During the last century it 

 has greatly extended its 

 area of occupation, both in 

 a westerly and northerly direction. In 

 Ireland it was not known until 1808, but 

 now breeds even in Achill, and in Scot- 

 land it has gradually spread, and may 

 be met with in Caithness and Sutherland, 

 although I have never seen it in either 

 the Shetlands or Outer Hebrides. 



The Missel Thrush may easily be dis- 

 tinguished from its congener, the Song 

 Thrush, by its larger size, lighter colour, 

 and the fact that it shows a piece of 

 white on either side of its outspread 

 tail, when flying away from the observer. 

 Its harsh alarm notes sound like the 

 noise made by a toy watchman's rattle. 

 In December, January, and February, 

 the Storm Cock as this bird is fre- 



quently called may be heard singing 

 whilst swaying to and fro on the top- 

 most branch of some windswept tree. 

 The song, although a wild, defiant 

 strain, in keeping with the riotous 

 condition of the elements during the 

 season when it attracts most atten- 

 tion, is not very melodious, and far 

 inferior to even the weakest efforts 

 of the blackbird. 



The Missel Thrush commences to 

 build in March, and, in mild winters, 

 sometimes as early as February. The 

 nest is composed of small twigs, dead 

 grass stems, mud, moss, and wool, with 

 an inner lining of soft dead grass blades. 

 It is placed in the fork of a tree, or upon 

 a large horizontal branch, at varying 

 heights from the ground. I have found 

 it on a stump only three feet in height, 

 and sometimes in a tall ash forty feet 

 above the ground, but never in a bush 

 or amongst rocks. 



The eggs, numbering four or five, are 

 of a greyish green ground colour, with 



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