THRUSH, the name of two English species of the genus Turdus, the type of the family Turdidae ; and of six American species of the family. The first of these is the song thrush or mavis (T. philomelus), one of the finest songsters in Europe. Com mon throughout Europe, this bird has a brown back and a speckled breast in both sexes.
It feeds very largely on worms and snails, which latter it "shells" by beating on a stone and then rubbing off the fragments of the mollusc's "house." It is an early breeder, rearing two broods a year; the nest, a deep cup, is lined with mud, cow-dung and rotten wood, formed into a smooth layer by the pressure of the bird's breast. The eggs, four or five in number, are a bluish green, spotted with black.
The second species is the missel thrush (T. viscivorus) also called mistletoe thrush, from its fondness for the berries of that plant, and storm-cock, from its habit of singing in squally weather. It is larger than the last species, reaching a length of II in. Otherwise it resembles its relative in appearance, but is
greyer and has a white edge to the tail. Its song is loud and wild, but less sweet than that of the mavis. The bird boldly at tacks marauding crows, jays and even cats, driving them away from its nest. The hermit thrush (Hylocichla guttata) of North America is the finest songster of the continent. The rufous tail and whitish eye ring are distinctive features. The wood-thrush (H. mustelina), is little inferior to the last as a singer and has spotted sides as well as breast. The olive-backed thrush (H. ustu lata) has a similar lovely song.
The genus Turdus includes also the blackbird (q.v.), ring-ousel (see OUSEL), fieldfare (q.v.), redwing (q.v.), and others. In cluded in the Turdidae are the wheatears, stonechats and whin chats (see WHEATEAR), redstarts (q.v.), robins (see REDBREAST), and hedge sparrows (see SPARROW). The "ant-thrushes" belong to a different family (see PITTA).