TURDIN.t. 





THE FIELDFARE. 



TURDUS PILARIS, LinilffiUS. 



The Fieldfare is one of the regular visitors to our islands, the 

 date of its arrival depending upon the autumnal temperature in 

 those northern regions of Europe which form its principal breeding- 

 ground. Its appearance in Scotland and in eastern England has 

 been recorded from the middle of September onwards, but on the 

 west side, in Wales and in Ireland, it is usually about the middle of 

 October. Every one must be familiar with the large flocks of Felts, 

 " Blue Felts," or " Felfers," which during the winter are generally 

 distributed throughout the United Kingdom, seeking their food 

 over the fields and pasture-lands during open weather, and resorting 

 to the berry-producing hedges when frost hardens or snow covers 

 the ground. In backward springs the Fieldfare remains until the 

 middle of May, and, exceptionally, till the beginning of June ; but 

 there is no proof that it has ever nested in this country. 



An irregular visitor to the Fceroes, this species has wandered to 

 Iceland, and once to the island of Jan Mayen. It breeds abun- 

 dantly in Scandinavia, Finland, Northern Russia, and Siberia as far 

 as the Yenesei, beyond which it becomes rarer : in smaller numbers 

 in Central Russia, the Baltic provinces. East Prussia, and Poland ; 

 and of late in Moravia, Bohemia, and Bavaria ; while increasing 

 colonies have established themselves in Central Germany, especially 



