﻿Beneficial to Agriculture. 29 



SONG-THKUSH. 



Turdus musicus. 



The Song-Thrush, also known as the Mavis or the Throstle, is 

 generally distributed throughout the British Islands, breeding as 

 far north as the Orkneys, but being rare in the Shetlands, and not 

 yet known to nest there. This bird is a partial migrant ; a 

 large number migrate southwards during the autumn, when a 

 considerable number arrive on our coasts from the Continent. 



It is an early breeder, nesting often commencing in March and 

 continuing until the end of July. The bird is then not easily 

 disturbed, and sometimes allows itself to be touched before leaving 

 the nest. Its nest is to be found wherever suitable cover exists. 

 It is placed at various heights from the ground, but generally not 

 more than a few feet up, though sometimes on the ground. 

 Favourite resorts for the nest are evergreens of all kinds, dense 

 hawthorns, ivy covering walls and tree trunks. The nest is 

 massive and deep, the exterior formed of grass, fine twigs, roots, etc. ; 

 the deep cup-shaped interior is substantially lined with mud, 

 composed of the dung of cattle and rotten wood, which forms a 

 cement-like substance made smooth and regular by the bird 

 turning round and round in the nest while the lining is soft. The 

 eggs vary in number from three to six, five being the normal 

 clutch. They are clear shining greenish-blue, speckled, spotted, 

 and blotched with purplish-black or brown-black. 



The food of the Song-Thrush consists principally of snails, 

 worms and various insects, including many injurious kinds such 

 as leather- jackets, wire-worms, weevils and other beetles, also 

 various caterpillars ; while fruit, both wild and cultivated, form 

 part of its diet. From its great partiality for snails — the shells 

 of which it smashes to pieces by beating them against stones — 

 and the large quantity of noxious insects it destroys, it is a very 

 beneficial bird to grass land and gardens. The amount of fruit it 

 consumes is comparatively very small. 



The Song-Thrush has the upper parts olive-brown, the wing 

 coverts tipped with rich buff, the under wing coverts golden-buff, 

 the breast and sides orange-buff, except the throat. The under 

 parts and sides of the head are marked with fan -shaped dark 

 brown and black spots. Bill brown, yellowish at the base of lower 

 mandible, feet pale brown. The female is slightly smaller, and 

 paler on the under-surface. 



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