15 



13 



cemented to, and nearly encircling, the branches between which it was placed. Mr. Bond says 

 that he has known the Missel-Thrush to again lay its eggs in the, same nest in which it had 

 successfully reared a brood of young ones. 



" I had always believed that the Missel-Thrush deserved the character which it has obtained 

 of quarrelsomeness and pugnacity, until I have become better acquainted with its history. Wher- 

 ever its nest is, there its harsh querulous cries may be often heard. During the breeding-season 

 it is the most persecuted bird that lives. It is kept in perpetual turmoil, and, well for it, it is 

 possessed with courage. Its eggs are constantly sucked both by the Jackdaw and the Corby 

 Crow ; and if it should succeed in defending them by its intrepidity till they are hatched, its 

 young are the epicure's bit of the same Crow and Jackdaw, and even tempt the Rook to become 

 raptorial. When I saw the Missel-Thrushes making then - nests here, as they do every year, high 

 up, forty or fifty feet above the ground, and midway upon the horizontal branches of some lofty 

 cedar trees, I thought how securely they were placed ; and so they were from terrestrial foes ; 

 but, called out as a witness to the murder by the pitiless cries of the poor persecuted Thrushes, I 

 have had the mortification of seeing their young ones carried off year after year with a loud croak 

 of satisfaction by their demon foe the Corby Crow. Out of a dozen nests which I have noticed 

 upon these trees, the young from two only have escaped." 



The following curious instance of supposed relations existing between a Common Song- 

 Thrush and the present species was communicated by Mr. J. H. Gurney to the ' Zoologist ' for 

 1869 (p. 1847): — "In April last, about the middle of the month, a pair of Missel-Thrushes 

 commenced building in a large oak in a garden at Tottenham. On the 16th of April I observed 

 one of these Thrashes endeavouring to carry up to its nest a piece of white paper as large as half 

 a sheet of full-sized note-paper ; but the wind was high at the time, and interfered with the 

 bird's efforts, and, after repeated trials, it at length abandoned the attempt. After the hen bird 

 had commenced incubation, the male became very noisy and pugnacious, driving off every other 

 bird which settled on the oak in which the Thrushes had built. On the 3rd of May the Missel- 

 Thrush disappeared, having probably been shot or captured by a bird-catcher. On the morning 

 of the 5th or 6th of May the hen Missel-Thrush (who had continued her incubation, notwith- 

 standing the loss of her partner) was observed in company with a Song-Thrush on an adjacent 

 grassplot ; they were subsequently frequently observed to consort together whilst the Missel- 

 Thrush was bringing up her young : and once the Song-Thrush was observed to fly into the oak 

 containing the Missel-Thrushes nest with food in its bill. After the young Missel-Thrushes had 

 begun to fly, their mother and the Song-Thrush were still frequently observed in company ; and 

 as late as the 9th of June I carefully watched through a glass the old Missel-Thrush, two young 

 Missel-Thrushes, and the Song-Thrush all sitting together within a yard of each other on some 

 iron rails which divided the garden, in which the nest was situated, from an adjacent field." 



We have translated the accompanying story, told by Monsieur J. Vian in the 'Revue et 

 Magasin de Zoologie' for 1865 (p. 131); and we beg to call the attention of field-naturalists in 

 this country to the facts stated by the above-mentioned author, to see if any of them have ever 

 met with a like occurrence : — 



" The association of these two birds (the Missel-Thrush and Chaffinch) may perhaps appear an 

 anomaly to many naturalists ; but I place their classification on one side, in order to speak of the 



