2 MISTLE-THRUSH. 
Spanish Peninsula, and even in Northern Africa ; eastward, in 
Turkey, the Caucasus, and the mountain forests of Asia down to 
the north-western Himalayas, and up to 9,000 feet ; attaining in the 
last its palest colour and largest dimensions. In temperate Siberia 
it is found eastward to Lake Baikal; migrating in winter to 
Northern India, Persia, and Africa north of the Sahara. 
In the south of England the Mistle-Thrush sometimes begins to 
lay in February, while even in the north it often has eggs in March. 
The nest, which when placed in a wide fork of a tree has a 
considerable foundation of mud, is lined with dry grasses and 
composed externally of bents and lichens, but although the colour 
of the latter may resemble that of the branch on which the structure 
is placed—bushes being seldom resorted to—there is often no 
attempt at concealment. Exceptionally the nest has been found on 
the ground or in a hole of a wall. The 4-5 eggs are greenish- to 
tawny-white, blotched with reddish-brown and lilac: measurements 
1'25 in. by ‘85 in. In the south two broods are generally produced 
annually, but in the north the fine weather is too short for more 
than one. From its habit of singing early in the year in defiance of 
rough weather, the Mistle-Thrush is often called the ‘Storm-cock’ ; 
also ‘ Holm-screech,’ from its.partiality to the berries of the Holm 
or Holly, and its harsh churv-ing note. Its trivial name is a 
contraction cf Mistletoe-Thrush, owing to the fact that it eats the 
berries of that parasite ; but in Great Britain it seems to prefer those 
of the yew, holly, mountain-ash, hawthorn, ivy, &c., fruit when 
obtainable, worms, snails and insects. Although shy of man, 
except when its nest is approached, the Mistle-Thrush is a bold 
bird, fearlessly attacking Magpies, Jays, and other species superior 
to it in size. Its flight is rapid but jerky, and on the wing its large 
size, greyish tint, and white tips to the outer tail-feathers serve to 
distinguish it from any other Thrushes. 
The adult male has the upper parts ash-brown; under parts 
buffish-white, with bold fan-shaped spots, smaller and more acute 
on the throat; under wing and axillaries white; bill horn-brown, 
yellowish at the base ; legs pale brown. Total length 11 in.; wing 
6in. The female is slightly paler than the male. In the young 
the arrow-shaped markings on the throat and breast are more 
pronounced ; the upper wing-coverts broadly tipped with white, and 
the under parts, especially the flanks, suffused with golden-buff. 
In this plumage it has been mistaken for the rare White’s Thrush 
but its /we/ve tail-feathers distinguish it: White’s Thrush having 
fourteen. 
