66 THE MISTLE THRUSH. 



through its fondness for the latter shrub. 

 The female generally builds her nest in an 

 ash tree, at some distance from the ground, 

 forming the outside of moss, grass, the 

 stalks of dried plants, plastered over with a 

 layer of clay, on which a lining of soft dry 

 grass is neatly platted : she lays four eggs, of 

 a dusky flesh colour, mark^^d with large spots 

 of purple, and the young ones may be taken 

 when about twelve days old. The mistle 

 thrush has often two broods in the year. 

 The rearing and management of the young, 

 and the treatment of their diseases, are 

 exactly the same as in the common thrush. 



