FIELDFARE. 5 



supposing them to be Song Thrushes, and reared them up, but 

 when they gained their full plumage they proved to be Redwings. 

 The Redwings are very fond of snails, and are very clever in finding 

 them in the hedge banks, and breaking their shells against the first 

 stone they meet with. It is in this way they are able to find 

 food in frost and snow, and bear severe weather better than most 

 other birds. 



" The number of Redwings," says the Rev. Clement Ley, "like 

 that of several other migratory birds, appears to me, after many 

 years' investigation, to depend on the general direction of the winds 

 at the time of the autumn migration, rather than on the temperature 

 of the winter in these islands. When the north-east winds prevail, 

 the number of Redwings is relatively great ; when, however, the 

 predominant westerly winds are very persistent, a comparatively 

 small number of Redwings visit this county." 



TURDUS PILARIS— Fieldfare. 



BLUE-TAIL.' 



Fieldfare flocks 

 From distant lands alight, and chirping, fly 

 From hedge to hedge, avoiding man's approach. 



Grahame— jBtrds of Scotland. 



The " Blue-tail," as this bird is called in Herefordshire, is a 

 regular winter visitant. It appears in flocks with its cousins, the 

 Redwings. 



A single pied variety of the Fieldfare was killed at Lyonshall, 

 and is now in the possession of Mr. J. W. Lloyd, of Kington. The 

 beak, head, and neck are entirely white, the throat and breast 

 streaked with white, and the wing coverts, with the secondary and 

 tertiary feathers, also mottled with white. 



