This is the former name for the bird we now known as the thrush, the song-thrush or (an even less familiar term), the mavis. But unattractive the word throstle may be, it seems a positive joy compared to the Latin name owned by the poor creature: Turdus musicus, which sounds like something one might find in a Jonathan Franzen novel. This Latin also gives us turdine, which means thrush-like - and that still meaning the bird, not the infection.
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BuckeyeTexan
