in the large woods in Turkey, but it is never seen in summer in the parks and cultivated
grounds near the Bosphorus. They pass through Turkey and Asia Minor in flocks in the middle
of October, returning in the middle of April, and many remain for the whole winter (Dresser, B.
Eur. ii. p. 6). In Southern Russia and the Crimea it is only a winter visitant, and the species
is said to winter also in Persia. In the British Museum is a specimen collected by Mr. L. Barody
in the Lebanon, and Canon Tristram says that he also once saw it in the same place in winter. He
likewise records his having seen young, which had shortly before left the nest, on the southern
spurs .of the Taurid, near Marash (Faun. & Flor. Palest, p. 30).
The following account of the habits of the present species is taken from Seebohm’s * History
of British Birds ’ :—
“ The haunts of the Mistle-Thrush are considerably diversified, the rich, well-cultivated
districts and the borders of the moorlands being equally tenanted by them. In the former situation
it is usually found in the neighbourhood of large gardens, in orchards, shrubberies, small woods,
and plantations, and especially in well-wooded parks and pleasure-grounds. On the borders of the
upland wilds it frequents the fir-plantations, wooded roughs, and the banks of mountain-streams
and coppices of birch and alder. The Mistle-Thrush is found in Great Britain throughout the
year; but it is subject to some little internal migration. For instance, the birds that frequent
the upland districts in summer retire to the lower lands in winter; and birds from the more
isolated woods and coppices draw nearer to the cultivated districts should the weather be severe.
But these remarks apply to our indigenous birds alone. The rigours of a northern winter
send the Mistle-Thrush southwards; and considerable numbers of these migrants remain on our
shores throughout the winter, arriving at the same time as the Fieldfare, with which bird they
often associate. Although for the greater part of the year the Mistle-Thrush is a non-gregarious
bird, still in the early autumn, when the breeding-season is over, and the young birds are strong
on the wing, a sociable disposition manifests itself. The birds are then seen in little parties;
and as the autumn progresses they congregate in considerable flocks, very often being mistaken
for early arrivals of Fieldfares. At this season the Mistle-Thrushes are extremely wild and
wary, and are usually seen on the turnip-fields or newly-ploughed lands in the early morning,
and later in the day on the grass-fields and stubbles. In the turnip-fields they choose the parts
where the crop has been cleared off, and, as a rule, do not skulk under the broad leaves, like the
Song-Thrush; but they are, nevertheless, easily alarmed, and take wing the instant that danger
-'threatens, rising into the air, and flying from tree to tree, uttering their harsh and grating cries
both as they fly and when they are at rest in the tree-tops. As the year begins to wane and the
leafless twigs tell of the approach of winter, these bands of Mistle-Thrushes, from some unknown
cause, disperse; and for the rest of the winter the birds either live in solitude or congregate in
small parties only. Although in the nesting-season few birds excel the Mistle-Thrush in
trustfulness, at all other times of the year he is a shy and wary bird, and rarely comes near
houses, save when hard pressed for food. Mistle-Thrushes, as a rule, fly much higher than
Song-Thrushes or Blackbirds. They are capable of flying with great swiftness, and have considerable
command over themselves in the air—witness their motions round the head of an intruder when in
the neighbourhood of their nest. At other times they fly with a series of rapid beats with but
short intervals of cessation, and with but very little undulation. The Mistle-Thrush when
about to alight on a tree usually ascends some little distance to a perching-place. It is a
decided inhabitant of trees and shrubs, except when in search of food, which for eight months
in the year is found chiefly on the ground. The remaining four months he is for the most part a
berry feeder, although, if the weather be mild and open, we find him pretty frequently on the
grasslands in company with the Red-wing.
“ The Mistle-Thrush is partly graminivorous and partly insectivorous, according to the season of
the year. In the spring and summer it is seen on the pastures just as frequently as the Blackbird ;
but, unlike that species and the Song-Thrush, it never seeks its food under the evergreens and
hedgerows, but always in the open. On the grass it obtains earthworms, snails (both those with
and those without shells), larva? of various kinds, and insects. In the late summer, and throughout
the autumn, fruit and berries are largely sought after. This fare is obtained in gardens as well
as woods, and is composed of cherries, gooseberries, raspberries, and in the upland districts
the various moor fruit and the berries of the mountain-ash. The berries of the service-tree in
the autumn months are perhaps more eagerly sought after by the Mistle-Thrush than any
other food. Where the trees are covered with fruit the birds may be seen incessantly,
frequenting them until they are entirely stripped. In late autumn and in early spring,
when sowing-operations are in progress, the Mistle-Thrush will frequent the fields and pick
up the scattered grain, varying his fare with grubs and insects. In winter the bird is .to a
great extent a wanderer. Its food is largely composed of berries of the hawthorn; and, like the
Fieldfare, it wanders from one district to another. The berry that is perhaps most closely
associated with the Mistle-Thrush is that of the famous parasite the mistletoe. Popular
opinion regards this waxen berry as the staple food of the ‘ Storm-cock, and assumes that the
bird is the principal disseminator of this parasitic plant. Pliny even propounded the startling
theory that the berries of this plant will not germinate unless they have passed through the
intestines of birds, notably that of the Mistle-Thrush! This bird does not eat the berries of the
mistletoe to such an extent as is popularly believed. In districts where this plant abounds it is
rarely found denuded of its berries, although the Mistle-Thrush may be the commonest of
birds in the neighbourhood. The berries of the hawthorn, the ivy, and the service-tree are its
staple food in the winter 'season. It is not at all improbable, however, that when the birds do
occasionally eat the berries of the mistletoe, the seeds are disseminated by their clinging to the
bill of the bird, who, to rid itself of them, cleans it on the bark, and thus unwittingly places
them in some crevice where they eventually germinate. The Mistle-Thrush sings throughout
the winter. In early autumn, after being silent throughout the breeding-season, he regains his
song, and may be heard to sing until the nesting-season in the following spring. No sooner has
this time arrived than the ‘ Storm-cock’ drops its wild melody, and, unlike all its congeners, performs
the duties of breeding in silence. The song resembles in some of its tones that of the Song-Thrush
and Blackbird; but it possesses a peculiar loudness and wild variation strictly its own, and
may, by one who pays attention to the songs of birds, be instantly distinguished from the notes
of any other British songster. Like the notes of the Ring-Ouzel, it is somewhat monotonous,
but rich and mellow. Before the first streak of dawn shoots across the dull wintery sky, the
Mistle-Thrush may be heard pouring forth his wild carol; and in the evening, when the dusk is
falling, he sings equally well. But perhaps the time when the £ Storm-cock s song is heard to
best advantage is on some wild day when part of his performance is drowned by the storm.
Perched on the leafless branches of a lofty tree, he sits and warbles forth his song amidst the
driving sleet and the roaring tempest. Should you disturb the Mistle-Thrush when singing,
he usually drops silently down and awaits your departure, though sometimes he merely retires to a
neighbouring tree and warbles as sweetly as before. The call-notes of the Mistle-Thrush are
extremely harsh and discordant, resembling those of the Song-Thrush, yet infinitely louder and
harsher.
“ Mistle-Thrushes pair about the first week in February, and at that season they are very
pugnacious; and when paired they often frequent the locality of their nest for weeks before a twig
is laid in furtherance of it.