ATTRACTIVE QUALITIES.--Perched on the top of a tree in the woods, the missel thrush begins, in the month of February, to utter his melancholy but musical warblings, consisting of five or six broken strains, and continues singing for four or five months. As his song is too loud for the sitting-room, this bird should be placed in a large hall, or his cage should be hung outside a window. He lives in captivity from ten to twelve years. His call very much resembles "_iis, r, r, r_." THE SONG THRUSH. [Illustration] Turdus musicus, LINNÆUS; La Grive, BUFFON; Die Singdrossel, BECHSTEIN. We might, with Brisson, name this bird the _small missel thrush_, so much does it resemble the preceding in form, plumage, abode, manners, and gait. Its length is only eight inches and a half, three and a half of which belong to the tail. The beak is three quarters of an inch, horn brown, the under part yellowish at the base and yellow within; the iris is nut brown; the shanks are an inch high, and of a dingy lead-colour. All the upper part of the body is olive brown; the throat is yellowish white, with a black line on each side; the sides of the neck and breast are of a pale reddish white, variegated with dark brown spots, shaped liked a heart reversed; the belly is white, and covered with more oval spots. In the female the two black lines on the throat are narrower, the breast is lighter, and of a plain yellowish white, and the reddish spots on the wing-coverts are smaller. These slight differences make it desirable for those whose eye is not accustomed to them, to have both sexes before them, if they wish to learn to distinguish them. The white variety, that with a white head, the streaked, and the ash-coloured, are not very rare. HABITATION.--When wild this species is spread all over Europe, frequenting woods near streams and meadows. As soon as the autumnal fogs appear, they collect in large flights to seek a warmer climate[67]. The principal time of passage is from the 15th of September to the 15th of October, and of return about the middle or end of March; each pair then returns to its own district, and the male warbles his hymn to spring from the same tree where he had sung it the preceding year. In confinement this bird is lodged like the missel thrush, and is much more worthy of being kept, as its voice is more beautiful, its song is more varied, and being smaller it makes less dirt. FOOD.--When wild it lives on insects and berries, like the preceding. In confinement, oatmeal moistened with milk is a very good food; and it requires also a great deal of fresh water, as well for bathing as drinking. When taken old it is often very difficult to induce these birds to eat, and the greater number die in consequence.