On the continent of Europe the Mistle-Thrush is well-known as a migrant, and nests in most
•countries, but only in certain suitable localities in many of them, especially in Southern Europe.
It reaches beyond the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia, as Mr. Godman found it breeding near Bodo in
1857. Professor Collett says:—“ It is chiefly found in the south-eastern part of Norway, where it
generally winters and also breeds. I t becomes rare in the province of Christiania, at Nedemaes,
near Nses, and Aaseral, and is not known with certainty to occur in the province of Bergen.
Above Mjfesen it is rarer, but breeds in Gulbrandsdal, at Lillehammer, and has been observed at
Trondhjem, in the Vcerdel. A single individual was observed at Alten, below 70°, in August 1838, by
Prof. Sundevall ” (Dresser, B. Eur. ii. p. 5). In Sweden, Sundevall says that it is found throughout
the country, but is nowhere common: it breeds even in SkSme (Svenska Fogl. p. 49). Dr. Pleske,
in his work on the Fauna of the Kola Peninsula, says that it is confined to the southern portion of
that country. Middendorff found it. common in the interior up to 67°, but Pleske himself did not
meet with it there. Von Wright observed it in Tornefl-Lappmark, and Palmdn found it nesting
in various places in the forest-region. Grape has noticed the species still further to the north, viz. in
Enontekis. Eggs of the species taken in Lapland are in the Museum at Helsingfors, according to
Palmdn (Pleske, Syst. Uebers. Saug. u. Vog. Kola-Halbinsel, p. 32). Wolley states that the Mistle-
Thrush is by no means common in Lapland, but nests and eggs were brought to him from lat. 68° on
the frontiers of Sweden and Finland (Newton, ed. Yarr. Brit. B. i. p. 262). It is a tolerably common
visitor to Archangel in summer (Seebohm, Ibis, 1882, p. 37.6), but it was not met with on the
Petchora by Seebohm and Harvie-Brown. We have no account of its range in Russia, though we
know from Bianchi that it nests in the Novgorod district, but is rarer than the three other Thrushes
found there (Biol. Not. Uschaki Vog. p. 12). It has been known to nest near Sarepta (Seebohm,
Ibis, 1882, p. 214), and it breeds also in the forests of the Caucasus. In Turkestan, according to
Severtzoff, it breeds in the north-eastern district—Semiratchje, Issik-Kul, the Upper Nasin, Acksay,
Kopal, and Vemoe, occurring in these parts also on passage; and in the. other districts of
Turkestan it breeds and also winters (Dresser, Ibis, 1875, p. 334). According to Dr. Pleske
Russow found the Mistle-Thrush breeding in June at Urjukle-Tau, in the district of Saamin
in Turkestan (Mem. Acad. Imp. Sci. St. Pitersb. (7) xxxvi. no. 3, p. 36). During the expedition
to Western Siberia in 1876, by Dr. Otto Finsch and his companions; a specimen was obtained
by the late Dr. Brehm at Dschasil-Kul in the Zungarian Ala-Tau, at an elevation of 5000 feet,
on the 14th of May. Dr. Finsch says further that he himself observed the Mistle-Thrush on
the 10th of June on the Tau-Teke Mountains of the Chinese high Altai, and thinks that some
young birds seen in the woods of Salair on the 29th of June probably belonged; to the present
species (Verh. zool.-bot. Gesellsch. Wien, xxix. p. 182). Przewalski found it breeding only on
the Tian-shan Mountains (Pleske, Wiss. Result. Przew. Central-Asien Reise, ii. p. 1), and the brothers
Grum-Grzimailo also met with it on the Tian-shan at Dsjan-dsjun-gol and Bogdo-ola (Pleske, Mel.
Biol. xiii. p. 292). It is not known to breed further eastward, though a few individuals were seen
and one secured in May, at Koultouk, at the south of Lake Baikal, by Dybowski and Godlewski
(Tacz. Faune Om. Sibir. Orient, i. p. 286).
In the Himalayas the species nests from Gilgit to Nepal. Dr. Scully states that in the former
locality it occurs above 9000 feet and nests (Ibis, 1881, p. 439); but Colonel Biddulph regards it
rather as a winter visitor, coming from the higher valleys in severe weather. He found it
breeding at 10,000 feet (Ibis, 1881, p. 207). Colonel C. H. T. Marshall has also noticed it nesting
in Chamba, in the Kulatope forests (Ibis, 1884, p. 414).
The Mistle-Thrush winters in Southern Afghanistan and Kelat, being common in winter on the
higher hills, according to the late Sir Oliver St. John : it is an occasional straggler to Quetta, but is
not seen about Kandahar (Ibis, 1889, p, 162). It is also a winter visitor to Persia.
Returning to the European home of the species, we find that it nests throughout Central
Europe in suitable localities, but in many places it is only known as a winter visitant. This is the
case in France and Germany and Denmark, and Mr. Hartert says that in Eastern Prussia it breeds
twice in the year, but n o t-in large numbers (Ibis, 1892, p. .358): In Poland,' according to
Taczanowski, -it is a common resident (Bull. Sop. Zook France, 1877, p. 143).
In Belgium it is best known as a migrant, but a few pairs nest in the woods (Fallon, Ois. Belg.
p. 38)3 and in Holland, Mr. Blaauw says that it has been known to breed in the province of
Groningen by Prof. Schlegel, and he himself has found nests near Velzen in Noord Holland; in the
rest of the country it is only a migrant (Notes Leyden Mus. xv. p. 188, 1893).
In Hungary it nests in the forests and pine-woods (Frivaldsky, Aves Hungarim, p. 49),
In Montenegro, according to Messrs. Reiser and von Führer, the Mistle-Thrush is commoner than
the Song-Thrush ; but on the coast it is only found here and there (Om. Balean, iv. p. 54).
In Switzerland, according to Dr. Fatio and Prof. Studer, it nests everywhere on the mountains
and up to the Alpine zone, whence it descends into the low country in the autumn (Cat. distr;.
Ois. Suisse, 1892, p 27), . Mr. Howard Saunders says that in 1891 it was not seen or heard near
Lausanne until the middle of March, and he does not think that it is a resident : it was plentiful in
the Jura (Ibis, 189m p . 161).
In Italy, Count Salvador! states that the species is resident and nests on the mountains, as well
as in Sicily and Sardinia ; in the autumn the birds descend to the low country, and a considerable
immigration of individuals from the north takes place (Blench.' Ucc. Ital. p. 103). Mr. John
Whitehead regards it as a resident in Corsica, but scarce in the island. A few were seen by
him in the plains during winter, and he found the species breeding in the mountain-forests in
the middle of May, with young fully fledged (Ibis, 1885, p. 36).
^ r’ ’/^°ward SaimderS writes :—“ In Southern Spain this species has come under my notice from
October to April, and a large number-evidently continúe their journey southwards; it probably
breeds sparingly in the mountains, and it. certainly does so north of the Sierra Morena, whence I
have eggs. .*g have also found it nesting in Aragon” (Dresser, B. Eur. ii. p. 6). It appears to
(breed throughout the Pyrenees, for Colonel Irby noticed it near Santander, and says that it was
, common in Llebana (Ibis, 1883, p. 179). Mr. Howard Saunders observed it nesting in Navarre
in April at an elevation of 3000 feet (Ibis, 1884, p. 368); and Mr. Eagle Clarke states that the
Mistle-Thrush was common at Andorra on the highlands, especially among the pines and firs on
the mountain-sides, but was not observed, below 5000 feet. It was breeding at 6350 feet, the
highest altitude at which the species was noted (Ibis, 1889, p. 533). Colonel Irby observes:h-X
“ The Mistle-Thrush cannot be said to be common near Gibraltar, being most so in winter. It
is-considered to arrive and depart with the Woodcocks ; but a few pairs nest in the Cork Wood
and other wooded districts.” - They occasionally nest near Tangier, but the species is principally
known as a bird of passage in November and February, according to Favier (Irby, Om. Str. Gibr.
2nd ed. p. 34). Capt. Savile Reid says that he took a nest in Marocco ,in April, 1884 (Reid, Ibis, 1886
p. 442). Mr. Joseph Whitaker writes :—“ I obtained specimens of the Mistle-Thrush in Tunis at the
end of March, and again towards the end of April, in the pine-woods to the north of Feriana
where this species no doubt breeds ; it is, however, not common in the Regency ” (Ibis'
1895, p. 92). Loche states that in Algeria it is not common, and is probably only found during
migration.
To Malta the present species appears to coinè only as a migrant, and cannot be a plentiful
visitor, to judge by the few examples recorded by Mr.. C. A. Wright (Ibis, 1864, p. 63). Von der
Mühle records it as breeding in the high mountains of Rumelia, and it occurs in Southern Greece in
winter, as stated by Lindermayer. According to the late Mr. Robson, the Mistle-Thrush breeds
x 2