136 ENGLISH BIRIJ LIFE 



have been known of isolated birds remaining during 

 the summer. It is an interesting thing when one 

 has learned to know the Redwing only as a winter 

 bird, and to associate it always with frozen fields 

 and leafless trees, to come suddenly upon it in 

 its Norway home, and to hear the familiar notes 

 again amidst the green birch-trees and the juniper, 

 with a cataract roaring down the decli\'ity of the 

 valley, and with snowy heights towering far above. 



Once on a fishing trip in the Hardanger, as we 

 ascended a ravine, with the pack-ponies climbing 

 like goats from rock to rock, and with the broad 

 panorama of foaming river, lake and pine-wood 

 lying far below, we came across a colony of Field- 

 fares nesting in company with the less familiar 

 Redwings. The nests of the latter, of which we 

 found several, were in the lower trees, some almost 

 within reach of one's hand. One nest, which rested 

 upon a high, mossy rock, around which the birch- 

 trees grew thickly, contained four eggs; but, for 

 the most part, both with the Redwings and the 

 Fieldfares, the yoimg were partly fledged, the 

 season being mid-July. 



One peculiarity of this Thrush — remarkable in 

 a winter visitant — is that it appears to suffer 

 extremely from long-continued frosts. In seasons 

 of exceptional severity, many hundreds are found 

 well-nigh starved, when the native Thrushes are 

 still in fairly good case. As all birds are aft'ected 

 by the loss of food-supplies rather than by the 

 actual cold, it may be that the residents find certain 

 resources undiscovered by the Redwing. 



The Fieldfare has much in common with the Red- 



