202 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



considerable height. In the fields the birds work steadily up 

 wind, halting constantly to stand well erect with head uplifted, 

 alert rather than suspicious. They fly to trees when alarmed, 

 and perch with heads facing the wind, but if approached they 

 rise and, turning, fly rapidly down wind with cries of alarm. 

 In addition to the animal and berry food common to all 

 thmshes, the Fieldfare will, when other things fail, attack 

 turnips or other roots, and on the coast eat marine molluscs ; 

 but if there is an abundance of fruit on the hawthorns other 

 food, even worms and insects, is neglected so long as the 

 supply lasts. 



Frequently the birds chatter sociably in a tree and in spring 

 it is not unusual to hear low warbled refrains, the first efforts at 

 song ; Seebohm describes the nuptial song as a " wild desultory 

 warble," but the song I heard repeatedly in Norway was not 

 much superior to the occasional April warble. Reports of 

 British nesting are unsubstantiated ; the bird is sociable in its 

 nesting habits and when a colony is approached the intruder is 

 greeted with loud clamour. I have been mobbed by nesting 

 birds which repeatedly brushed past within a few inches of my 

 face with harsh and angry cries, quite different from the notes 

 heard in England. The nest is usually in a tree (Plate 8S) 

 and not unlike that of the Blackbird. 



In winter the slate-grey head is streaked with black, and the 

 grey rump tinged with buff; the wings and tail are dark brown, 

 the back and mantle warm chestnut. The rich brown throat 

 and breast are streaked with black, and with dark brown on the 

 flanks ; the centre of the belly is white, as are the under wing- 

 coverts and axillaries, noticeable in flight. The bill is dark 

 brown, yellow on the under mandible, the legs and irides dark 

 brown. The margins, which somewhat obscure the breast 

 markings and the grey of the upper parts, wear off during 

 winter, and by spring the rump is a clear, uniform grey. The 

 whole bill is now yellow. The young are at first spotted above 



