12 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



land both species scatter fairly widely, the fieldfares standing out 

 among their companions by their larger size and bolder, more assertive 

 bearing. But for all this they are wary and alert and not easy to 

 approach very closely. When disturbed from the ground they fly 

 up into any trees that may be at hand, and indeed when not actually 

 feeding they perch freely enough in trees, usually all facing in the 

 same direction with a unanimity appropriate to a social species. 

 The carriage on the ground is much like that of any large thrush. 

 When standing still the position is rather upright, head well up and 

 tail down, and it moves in the usual manner of thrushes in short runs 

 or a succession of hops with pauses between. The flight is fairly 

 direct, with a perceptible but not very noticeable closure of the wings 

 every few beats, and the flocks fly in a rather loose and straggling 

 formation. Except in the breeding season they are characteristically 

 birds of the open. They will resort at times to open woodland if 

 there is a good crop of berries there; indeed on the Continent this 

 would seem to be a more regular habit than it is as a rule in England. 

 But they are not by nature woodland birds and never normally take 

 shelter in bushes or cover of any kind. 



Voice. — The ordinary note of the fieldfare is the rather harsh cha- 

 cha-cha-chack already mentioned, and the more subdued, conver- 

 sational chatter of parties in the trees is a variation of this. In the 

 breeding colonies the birds have other more or less similar harsh or 

 chattering notes of alarm or anger. A quite distinct note, a call that 

 with minor variations from species to species is common to a number 

 of thrushes, is a soft prolonged seeh. The only note I have heard 

 from young birds on the breeding ground is a shrill chizzeek. In 

 contrast to those of many thrushes the song — it really hardly qualifies 

 to rank as more than a subsong — is a remarkably unimpressive 

 performance, consisting of some not unmusical warbling notes mingled 

 with chuckling, whistling, and harsh squeaky sounds and variations of 

 the harsh call. It is more often uttered in flight than from a perch. 

 It is natural to correlate the lack of any highly developed song with 

 the colonial nesting habits of the species. In spring, while the birds 

 are still in their winter quarters, a low guttural warbling subsong 

 may sometimes be heard from parties in the trees, as well as at 

 roosting places, and this seems to be merely a subdued version of 

 the breeding-season song. 



Field marks. — The fieldfare is a large, robustly built thrush about 

 10 inches long, with slate-gray head, nape, and rump contrasted 

 with chestnut back and black tail. The female is like the male, but 

 a little duller. It is largely a bird of open ground, getting much of 

 its food in the fields, but perching freely in trees and hedgerows. It 

 is strongly gregarious and generally seen in parties or flocks, which 



