Forms: 1 ðræsce, þrysce, þryssce, þrisce, 3 þrusche (ü), þruysse (for þrūshe), 4 þrusch, 5–6 thrusshe, thrushe (5 thryshe, thrusche, thrus, 7 thresh); 6– thrush. [Two ablaut-forms in OE.: α. þrýsce, later þryssce, wk. fem.:—O. Teut. *þrûskjôn. For the change of vowel in ME. þrusche, thrush, cf. clutch, crutch, rush, thrutch, with u (v) from y (ü); in 15th c., some dialects retained þruysse (= þrüshe) and thryshe, and thrice-cock (for thrÿshe-cock) is still a dialect-name of the missel-thrush. β. OE. had a. 800 Anglian þrǽsce = WSax. *þréasce OHG. drôsca:—OTeut. *þrauskôn. Examples of this form are rare, and indeed not yet cited in ME., where it would be *þresche, *thresshe; but thresh occurs in 17th c., and the derivative thresher is dialectal in Oxfordsh. and Berksh. Cf. also the U.S. thrasher. There are also the derivative forms thrushel, thrishel, thrissel, from the α type: see THRUSHEL.]
1. Historically, A name of two British and general European birds; (1) primarily, and without qualification, that also called Throstle and Mavis, distinctively Song-thrush (Turdus musicus); (2) the Mistletoe thrush, Mistle-, or Missel-thrush (T. viscivorous), a larger and less musical species. Thence extended (with qualifications) by ornithologists to other species of the genus Turdus (many of which, in vernacular language, have other names, and are not regarded as thrushes), or more widely, to all members of the family Turdidæ. By colonists, travellers, etc., transferred, with qualifications, to birds of other lands, allied to the European thrushes, or merely resembling these in general appearance or some feature; see b.
The song-thrush is locally known as THROSTLE and MAVIS, dialectally thrushel, thrustle, thrusher, thrush-field, whistling thrush; the missel-thrush, as bull thrush, gawthrush, holm-t., horse-t., marble-t., Norman t., stone-t., wood-t., thrush-cock, throstle-cock, storm-cock, etc. In OE. and ME., thrush and throstle are sometimes mentioned as distinct birds: see THROSTLE. Among the thrushes (Turdi) of ornithology, are the redwing, fieldfare, blackbird, ring-ouzel, of Great Britain, and the robin, veery, hermit-thrush, wood-thrush, and other species of North America.
α. c. 1000. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 260/30. Trutius, þrisce.
c. 1000. Voc., ibid. 286/23. Strutio, þryssce.
a. 1250. Owl & Night., 1659. Þruysse [MS. Cott. þrusche] & þrostle & wodewale.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 820. Briddes þat bliþeliche song, Boþe þe þrusch & þe þrustele.
1413. Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton), V. v. (1859), 76. I bethought me vppon the byrdes as thrusshes, and thrustels, and stares whiche I haue sene.
14[?]. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 595/20. Mauiscus, anglice a thryshe.
14[?]. Nom., ibid. 702/39. Hic garulus, a thrus.
c. 1460. J. Russell, Bk. Nurture, 438. Of quayle, sparow, larke,… pygeoun, swalow, thrusche, osulle.
1530. Palsgr., 281/1. Thrusshe a byrde, gryue.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., VI. iv. 17. Abrode to wend, To take the ayre and heare the thrushes song.
1624. Capt. Smith, Virginia, II. 27. There are … Thrushes and divers sorts of small Birds.
1668. Charleton, Onomast., 83. Turdus,… the Thrush, Song-Thrush, or Throssle, or Mavis.
1746. Francis, trans. Horace, Epist., I. xv. 51. A fat Thrush is most delightful Food, And a Swine’s Paunch superlatively good.
1810. Scott, Lady of L., III. ii. The blackbird and the speckled thrush Good-morrow gave from brake and bush.
β. c. 725. Corpus Gloss. (O.E.T.), 2063. Truitius, ðræsce.
c. 1676. Roxb. Ball. (1836), VI. 305. ‘Oh!’ says the squeaking little Thresh, ‘My Sorrows now begin afresh.’
[1904. Eng. Dial. Dict., s.v. Thrusher, Also in form thresher Oxf., Bucks…. The song-thrush.]
b. With qualifying words (indicating native country, color, food, habits, etc.) applied to various species of the genus Turdus or family Turdidæ; also popularly to numerous species of other families (starlings, warblers, shrikes, etc.) more or less resembling the true thrushes: as
Babbling thrush: = thrush-babbler in 3. Chinese thrush, Trochalopterum canorum; † Golden thrush: early name of the Golden Oriole. Harmonic thrush, Collyriocincla harmonica, of Australia. Long-legged thrush, any bird of Swainson’s subfamily Crateropodinæ, also called babblers, formerly classed with the thrushes. Migratory thrush, the American robin. New York thrush, an American Water-thrush, Seiurus nævius. Olive-backed thrush = OLIVE-BACK. Pacific thrush, a Polynesian bird, Lalage pacifica. Red thrush, Red-breasted thrush, the American robin. Shining thrush, a W. African glossy starling, Lamprocotius splendidus. Shrike-thrush: see SHRIKE Songster thrush, Calornis panayensis, of the Philippines. Spectacle thrush, Garrulax perspicillatus, of Southern China and Siam. Varied thrush, the Oregon robin, Hesperocichla nævia. Whidah thrush, a W. African starling, Pholidauges leucogaster. Wilson’s thrush, the VEERY of N. America. Wind-thrush, local name of the REDWING. Wine thrush, a S. African species, Turdus olivaceus. See also ANT-THRUSH, GROUND-THRUSH, HERMIT-THRUSH, ROCK-THRUSH, WATER-THRUSH, WOOD-THRUSH.
a. 1705. Ray, Syn. Avium & P. (1713), 64. Turdus viscivorus minor..., the Mavis, Throstle, or Song-Thrush…. Turdus Iliacus..., the Red-Wing, Swine Pipe or Wind-Thrush.
1731. Medley, Kolben’s Cape G. Hope, II. 160. The Wine-thrushes have their name from their loving of grape-stones.
1750. Edwards, Nat. Hist. Birds, III. 185. The Golden Thrush. Icterus…. They are found in the Southern Parts of Europe all the Summer Season.
1754. Catesby, Nat. Hist. Carolina (ed. 2), I. 30. The red-leg’d Thrush, Turdus viscivorus plumbeus. Ibid., 31. The little Thrush (Turdus minimus). In shape and colour it agrees with the description of the European Mavis, or Song-Thrush, differing only in bigness.
1783. Latham, Gen. Synopsis Birds, II. I. 36. Chinese Thrush, less than a Redwing. Ibid., 61. Spectacle Thrush, a Trifle bigger than a Blackbird.
a. 1792. S. Hearne, Journ. Northern Ocean, x. (1795), 418. The Red-breasted Thrushes, commonly called in Hudson’s Bay … Red Birds.
1827. Audubon, Jrnls., 2 May. The Red Thrush. Ibid. (1843), 27 May. This morning my ears were saluted by the delightful song of the Red Thrush.
1898. Morris, Austral Eng., Thrush,... applied in Australia and New Zealand to four [sic] different genera of birds, viz.—(1) Collyriocincla, the Shrike-Thrushes…. (2) Geocincla, the Ground-Thrushes. (3) Oreocincla, the Mountain-Thrush. (4) Pachycephala; called Thrushes, but more often Thickheads. (5) Turnagra (the New Zealand Thrushes).
† 2. Sea-thrush, thrush-fish, names given (after L. turdus) to various species of wrasse (Labrus), of which L. turdus is common in the Mediterranean; L. maculatus the Ballan wrasse, and L. mixtus the striped wrasse, are found also on the British coasts.
1601. Holland, Pliny, IX. xv. I. 244. Of Stone-fishes, such as live among rocks, the sea Thrush, the sea Merle, and the purple shell-fishes are not to be found.
1661. Lovell, Hist. Anim. & Min., 235. Thrush-fish.… They are very difficultly concocted yet Pliny counteth them good.
1726. Leoni, Alberti’s Archit., I. 97/2. The Sea-thrush and Whiting feed best among the Rocks.
3. Comb. as thrush-haunted, -like adjs.; thrush-babbler = BABBLER 4; thrush-blackbird, a name for the Rusty Grackle, Scolecophagus ferrugineus (Cent. Dict., 1891); thrush-breast a., speckled like a thrush’s breast; † thrush-fish = sea-thrush (sense 2 above); thrush-nightingale, a nightingale (Daulias philomela) with a slightly speckled breast, found in central and enstern Europe; thrush-tit, a book-name for birds of the genus Cochoa (or Xanthogenys), inhabiting the Himalayas, China, and Java (Cent. Dict., 1891).
1878. P. Robinson, In my Indian Gard., II. 83. The feeble-winged *thrush-babblers were wrangling over worms.
1896. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., I. 191. [The walls of the fatty heart] frequently present a ‘tabby-cat’ or *‘thrush-breast’ appearance.
1905. Speaker, 9 Sept., 548. *Thrush-haunted woods and peaceful shades.
1842. Penny Cycl., XXIII. 173/1. The chief peculiarities of the grakles, viz. the strong *thrush-like bill [etc.].
1872. Coues, N. Amer. Birds, 76. Aquatic thrush-like birds.
1840. Penny Cycl., XVI. 231/1. The *Thrush Nightingale … inhabiting central Europe.
1904. Westm. Gaz., 30 Nov., 12/1. Known as the thrush nightingale, and in Germany as the ‘Sprosser.’
