On the continent of Europe the Mistletoe-Thrush has a
very high northern range, breeding in Norway as far as
Bodo, where the Messrs. Godman found it, and Prof. Sun-
devall obtained a single example at Alten, nearly in lat.
70° N. Wolley’s collectors several times brought its nest
and eggs from lat. 68° N. on the frontiers of Sweden and
Finland, and in the country last mentioned, though nowhere
numerous, it is said to be generally distributed. How much
further it extends to the north-eastward is not known; but
Lehmann records it from Orenburg, and in southern Russia
Herr H. Gobel states that it is a bird of regular double
passage, as is also the case in the Crimea, though on
Nordmann adds that some winter at Odessa. I t is common
in Turkey and breeds there; the birds crossing the Bosphorus
to Asia Minor in October. Strickland observed it at
Smyrna in winter. I t is not included in De Filippi’s list of
Persian birds, but is well known in the north-western Himalayas.
The Indian bird, however, is by some deemed a
distinct species, and has been named Turdus hodgsoni, but
Messrs. Sharpe and Dresser, in their elaborate account of
the Mistletoe-Thrush, declare, after the comparison of a
large number of specimens, that the asserted difference
cannot be maintained. I t frequents all the central and
southern countries of Europe, and was observed by Mr.
Drake to be very common in Morocco, while Mr. Salvin
noticed it on the Tunisian frontier of Algeria.
The bill is dark brown; the under mandible pale yellow
at the base; the irides h az el: the top of the head, and
almost all the upper parts, nearly uniform clove-brown:
wings and wing-coverts umber-brown, the latter broadly
edged with wood-brown, the wing-feathers with a narrow
edge of the same colour; the slightly forked tail above
umber-brown, the broad inner web of each outer quill with
a patch of dull white, and the second quill on each side with
a smaller patch at the tip : all the lower parts white, tinged
with yellovq and covered with numerous black spots; those
in front of the neck triangular in shape, with one angle
pointing upwards; those on the breast, belly and sides
MISTLETOE-THltUSH.
rounder; "wings and tail beneath grey: tarsi and toes pale
brown; claws dark brown. Males and females differ little
in size or plumage.
The whole length is about eleven inches: the wing from
the carpal joint, five inches and three-quarters; the first
primarv one inch ; the second the same length as the fifth ;
the third and fourth equal, and the longest.
The young, when about to leave the nest, exhibits a greater
variety of markings than the ad u lt; the feathers on the head,
neck, upper part of the back, and smaller wing-coverts, have
a median stripe of buff, with a black spot at the t ip ; those
of the greater coverts and tertials have broad external edges
of rich buff: the chin is white ; the other lower parts tinged
with fawn-colour and marked with black spots.
As in all the truly British Thrushes, pale or white varieties
of this species have been met w ith ; and, indeed examples
exhibiting partial or total albinism are so far from laie
among birds generally, that it is proposed not to mention
them in the course of this work unless in such cases as
possess some special interest. Though much has been written
on the subject, little appears to be known as to the cause
of these variations. It has been supposed, and probably with
truth, that they are usually due at first to constitutional
weakness, which experience shews to be often hereditaiy,
but it must be remarked that the tendency to albinism is
much more frequent in some groups than in others.
The vignette represents the breast-bone of the Blackbiid
illustrating its form in the genus Turdus.
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