Winter Thrushes In the second week of January four palpable
well-fledged, though still rather woolly young thrushes appeared on the lawn close to a birdpond which has from the first proved a marvellous magnet for birds, mammals and insects. That the birds were of this year's vintage, born in January, 1935,
there is no doubt ; but it is not quite certain whether they were song-thrushes or missel-thrushes. The missel-thrush is among the early birds and a winter singer. Like Wordsworth's " Happy Warrior " it has " a faculty for storm and turbu- lence," and has been well-named the storm cock by our obser- vant countrymen who know nothing about literary style, but have a native gift for it. They prefer to build their nests in a good solid fork of chestnut or apple before the buds break, for buds are not necessary for concealment. The song- thrush, too, scorns the furtive art of concealment ; so perhaps the odds are equal. The major point is that young birds of the thrush family were in being in January.
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