Tunuss.  PASSERES. TURDUS. 1635 
Dorset. p. 10.—Bewick’s Br. Birds, 1. p. 100.—Low’s Fau. Orcad. p.57.— 
Sern Zn v. 10. p. 174. 
Provincial, Throstle Cock, Mavis, Grey Bird. 
This well known songster, whose sweetly variable notes 
enliven our groves, from the commencement of spring to the 
close of summer, is indigenous in Britain, as the greater part 
of those bred in the island remain stationary through the 
whole year. But these our native birds are augmented by 
the visits of vast flocks, in the course of their autumnal jour- 
ney from the more northern countries of Europe. These last 
generally make their appearance before the redwing and field- 
fare, and, after recruiting their strength for a few days, move 
onward in a southerly direction. Like many of our other 
autumnal visitants, they arrive with a north, or north-east 
wind, plainly indicating the countries from whence they hold 
their progress. ‘The thrushes which remain with us, never 
associate in flocks during the winter, like the two above-men- 
tioned species, but continue dispersed throughout the coun- 
try, haunting the thickets and hedges, where they find a sup- 
ply of such berries as form their principal food, during the 
inclement season of the year. Upon the approach of very 
severe frosts, or falls of snow, I have observed that they 
move from the interior of the country towards the sea-coast, 
where the influence of the sea-breeze, soon dissolving the 
snow, exposes a portion of ground sufficient to furnish them 
with a scanty subsistence. If the season should prove tem- 
perate, the male bird begins to pour forth his love-notes as 
early as the latter part of January, or the beginning of the 
month following. In March the pair commence nidification, 
and the first brood flies about the month of May. 
The nest is composed of grass and mosses closely inter- Nes. ee. 
woven, and the inside is plastered over with a composition of 
cow-dung, rotten wood and clay, which, as Monracu ob- 
serves, is usually so compactly wrought as to retain water, on 
which account a rainy season is often the destruction of the 
eggs. 
