T. musicus, Lin. &c. Throstle, or Song Thrush. In some parts called Grey-Bird, or Stormcock, and in Scot land Mavis. Grey-brown above, whitish-red beneath, va ried with dusky spots; inner base of the quills ferruginous. Weight three ounces, length niue inches, and extent of wing thirteen inches' and a half. The colour so nearly re- sembles that of the missel thrush, that when we state its smaller size, and the yellow tinge of the inner wing.coverts, we may be said to have completed its description. The female is somewhat smaller, with the yellowish tint of the breast clearer, and the rufous extremity of the wing-co verts less conspicuous. White, brown, and intermediate varieties also occur.
The Throstle inhabits Europe as far north as Sondmor, and is found in most parts of Russia where the juniper grows, especially about the river Kama, but not in Siberia. Towards the approach of the vintage, innumerable flocks of the thrush tribe quit the northern regions; and such is their abundance on the'southern shores of the Baltic, that, according to Klein, the city of Dantzic alone consumes ninety thousand brace of them. The different species, however, do not travel simultaneously ; for the throstle ap pears first, and the red-wing, ficldfare, and missel, succeed in order. They halt in different districts, particularly in such as afford to them the most copious and easy subsist ence. Thus, prosecuting their route southward, many reach certain stations sooner or later, according to the di rection of the winds, and the variable changes of tempera ture, as has been remarked of all the feathered tribes that are driven from the north by the cold. Of the roaming throstles, some advance no farther than the islands of the Mediterranean, and others steer their course into Africa. According to Sonnini, they arrive in Egypt in the month of October, and leave it again in March, keeping at no great distance from human dwellings, and affecting the shade of the orange and lemon tree's, which embellish some of the districts of Lower Egypt. Many of the species, however, do not undertake such extensive journeys, being content to pass the winter, or even to breed, in far more temperate quarters, braving, for example, our British win ters, under hedges, in woods. or near houses. We need scarcely observe, that it is generally admired for its song, which, for fulness and clearness of tone, is perhaps excel led by none of our warblers, and which, for plaintiveness, compass, and execution, is much superior to that of the blackbird. Its notes agreeably enliven the woods and thickets during nine months in the year ; but they are too powerful to be pleasing in a room. A variety which does not visit us till March, and departs in autumn, is still more i prized for its song by the bird-fanciers. It is distinguish ed from the common sort by its shorter make, its more so litary habits, and by its frequenting only open and heathy grounds, whence it is known by the appellation of Heath Thrush ; but in this country it is very rare. The throstle breeds twice, and sometimes thrice in the season, and con sequently continues long in song. In March the female makes her nest, composing it externally of dried grass and green moss, and plastering it within with a mixture of rot ten wood and cow dung, or clay, and that with such com pactness as to retain water—a circumstance which, in a rainy season, sometimes proves fatal to the eggs. The nest is sometimes placed on the stump of a tree, very near the ground, or against the side of one, and frequently in a hedge, or solitary bush. The female lays from three to
six eggs, of a pale blue, verging on green, with large and small rufescent and hlack spots, especially towards the broad end. Both sexes participate the cares of incuba tion. Their food consists of insects and berries in gene ral ; and they are particularly fond of grapes and of snails, whose shell they break by repeated strokes against a stone. If teased, they manifest their resentment by snapping their bill. In order to rear the male in a cage, he should be caught young, and fed with crumbs of bread, bruised rape and hempseed, and minced meat ; and this sort of diet may be varied with grapes, olives, or other .favourite fruits. They are very susceptible of discipline, and may be taught to whistle several airs, and even to articulate words. In confinement they will live seven or eight years.
T. iliacus, Lin. &c. Red-wing, Bed-wing Thrush, Swine-110e, or Wind Thrush. Grey-brown above, whitish beneath, with brown spots ; wings ferruginous beneath ; eye-brows whitish. This specks has been fre quently confounded with the preceding; but it is smaller, weighing only two ounces and a quarter, and measuring eight inches in length ; its colours, too, are more glossy, its bill blacker, the spots on the breast more numerous, and the wings are orange red underneath. Its manners nearly correspond with those of the field-fare and the throstle ; and it is pretty generally spread over Europe. In this country it appears in September, and has only a piping note ; but in Sweden, where it breeds, especially in the maple forests, it will perch on a tree, and sing very sweetly. It likewise breeds in the neighbourhood of Dantzig ; and, according to Nozcman, in some parts of Holland, selecting such grounds as yield plenty of elder berries and sorbs. In the course of April, May, and June, it has two broods, each of which consists of about four or six eggs, of a greenish-blue, spotted with dusky. The nest is usually placed on shrubs or hedges. Con trary to the commonly received opinion, both this species and the fieldlarc have been observed in large flocks with us so late as June, though many of them certainly quit the country in spring. Nozcman asserts, that both pa rents swallow the defections of the young as long as they remain in the nest,—a habit to which they arc addicted in common with many other birds ; but the excrementi tious matter is retained at the entrance of the gullet, until it is disgorged at some considerable distance from the nest, as if to remove all suspicion of the place which conceals their offspring. In default of worms, cater pillars, and insects, the redwings fall on cherries, grapes, and other succulent fruits, when their flesh acquires that delicacy which procures it such a cordial reception at the table of the epicure. The injury which they occa sion to the orchard and the vineyard, is more than com pensated by the quantities of insects and their larva which they destroy, especially in spring and summer. A variety, discovered in the Pyrenees, by Picot la Pey rouse, and designed by him illauvis Blond, is of a rufes cent white hue ; and, in the British Museum, there is a specimen of a cream-coloured brown, with all the mark ings of a pale colour, and the bill and legs nearly white, Telorquatus, Lin. &c.; Ring-Ouzel, or Ring-Thrush, Prov. Rock, or Mountain Ouzel, Tor-Ouzel, Michaelmas Blackbird, or Heath 7'hrostle. Dusky, with a white collar, and yellowish bill. Weight four ounces ; length eleven inches ; extent of wing seventeen.