10 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



vol. 2). The display as he describes it resembles the European black- 

 bird's. The hen stands motionless on the ground with the head on 

 one side, while the cock struts round her many times with the tail 

 fanned and pressed on the ground, the feathers on the rump ruffled 

 up and the bill pointing to the ground. Although the song itself is 

 of the feeblest description, it may be associated with a special display 

 flight, with a peculiar wing action in which the wings are held stiffly 

 out, not fully extended, between the beats, conveying the impression 

 of abnormally slow progress forward. 



Nesting. — In its typical northern haunts the fieldfare is first and 

 foremost a bird of the birch forests, iu which, unlike the other Euro- 

 pean thrushes, it breeds in colonies. But it also breeds freely in pine 

 forest, as well as in alders, and in the more southern parts of its range 

 in a variety of other trees. Sometimes colonies may be found in 

 parks, orchards, and gardens, even in towns, and I recall such a colony 

 in trees in a public square in the little town of Kristiansund in Norway. 

 In my experience the nests have generally been about 8 to 18 or 20 

 feet up, but they may be either higher or lower and occasionally even 

 on the ground or in such other situations as sheds or woodstacks. 

 They are generally fairly widely scattered, and in the Scandinavian 

 birch woods, at any rate, there is not ordinarily more than one in a 

 tree. But in larger trees it is recorded that several nests in one tree 

 are not unusual. Quite small colonies and even isolated nests may be 

 found, especially, though by no means only, toward the limits of forest 

 growth, as well as large ones with scores of nests in a comparatively 

 small area. The species may also be found breeding sparingly even 

 on the high fells above the forests and on open tundra and barren 

 ground beyond the tree limit. Here it is the rule for only an odd pair 

 or two to be found here and there and the nests are built in low scrub 

 or among rocks or on the ground. 



The nest is much like that of the European blackbird, built of dry 

 grasses and bents mixed with mud and with a layer of mud beneath 

 the inner lining of fine grass, occasionally with a few twigs or a little 

 moss in the foundation. When built in a tree it is usually placed in a 

 fork or at the base of a branch against the trunk, but it may be placed 

 some way out on a side branch. Whether the male takes any part in 

 building does not appear to be recorded. 



Eggs. —The eggs in general closely resemble those of the European 

 blackbird, that is, they are closely freckled with reddish brown on a 

 pale bluish-green ground, but they are much more variable than black- 

 birds', being often much more richly and boldly marked, sometimes 

 with a well-marked cap or zone at the broad end. There is a type 

 with a bright blue ground more or less prominently spotted and 

 blotched, and unmarked blue eggs are also recorded. The usual clutch 



