NEWLY FLEDGED MISSEL
THRUSHES
The Missel Thrush, or Storm Cock as it is called in many parts of the country, from its habit of singing on the topmost branches of tall trees during wet, windy weather, is one of our very earliest feathered vocalists. I have heard it piping its bold, defiant notes as early as in December in the South of England and as late as the end of June in the Highlands of Scotland, and have found its nest and eggs from the end of February until the middle of June.
Although by no means a first-class melodist, the Storm Cock has some very sweet notes, and the unpleasant climatic conditions under which he frequently delivers them seem to enhance their value. I have often listened to him, brave bird! whilst he was swaying to and fro on the topmost branch of some wind-swept tree, and I could only catch a note here and there, the rest being carried away on a chord of the storm.
Few of our poets have given the Missel Thrush any attention whatever in their verse, but one has done it justice in the following lines:
“Whilst thou! the leader of the band,
Fearless salut’st the opening year,
Nor stay’st till blow the breezes bland
That bid the tender leaves appear;
But on some towering elm or pine