72 British Birds. 



Prussia, extending to central Siberia, and wintering to the southward in the rest 

 of Europe and North Africa, as well as in Central Asia and North-western India. 



The Fieldfare is a conspicuous bird with a chestnut-brown back and grey head 

 and rump ; the throat and breast are ochreous-buff, with black streaks on the former 

 and black spots on the latter. In Great Britain it is only found in winter, and in 

 mild seasons is the very shyest of birds, frequenting the open country, but in severe 

 times it has to subsist on berries and is then driven in by stress of weather to 

 parks and gardens, where their hard lot makes the poor birds comparatively tame. 

 In many parts of its northern breeding-range the Fieldfare is a gregarious species 

 and nests in company, but not invariably. I have found them in colonies up to 

 2O00 feet in Norway, but at 3000 feet they are often found in isolated birch- 

 woods, two and three pairs together within a small area. A few couples nest in 

 the upper regions at about 3500 feet, generally selecting a belated pine-tree in 

 which to build. The vociferous chatter which distinguishes the note of 

 the Fieldfare in England in winter is also heard m the colonies which breed in 

 Norway, and the nest can generally be discovered without difficulty from the anxious 

 cries of the parents. Some of the situations chosen by the birds are almost absurd 

 in their prominence, the nest being placed in an isolated tree, or on the top of a 

 hedge, passed a dozen times a day within a yard by every inhabitant of the farm, and 

 in 1897 I actually found a nest on the exposed window-ledge of an inhabited 

 dairy-farm high up in the mountains. The nest resembles that of the Blackbird, 

 and the eggs, from four to six in number, are bluish-green with rufous or chestnut 

 markings. 



This species {see p. 67) often called the Migratory Thrush, and in 



THE the New \\'orld known as the American ' Robin ' on account 



AMERICAN ^.^j- j.j^g similarity of its red breast to that of our European 



THRUSH. , . , , . , • o . r> ■. • 



,^ , Robin, has been twice procured in Great Britain, once near 

 {Tiiraus . 



migratoriiis.) Dover and a second time near Dublin ; whether these individuals 



had escaped from confinement is uncertain, but the species is 



common in North America, and may occasionally wander eastward to our shores. 



The Nightingale is a somewhat sober-plumaged bird, but 



THE COMMON j^^ g^^^^g j^ ^^^ ^f jj^^ ^^pgt beautiful in the world. Thus 



NIGHTINGALE. ^^ proves the fact, that our little warblers excel in song 



iDaulias lusciiiin.) . 



if not in the brilliancy of their plumage, whereas- tropical 

 species, of extreme splendour as regards their colour, are not remarkable for 

 their voice, and generally possess no song at all. The spotted plumage of 

 the young proves the Nightingale to be a member of the family Turdidir, 

 and not to be a Warbler as is often suggested. It is only a summer visitor 

 to England, and scarcely extends beyond the midland counties nor 

 westward beyond Devonshire and the eastern counties of Wales. Its winter 

 home appears to be in West Africa, and its summer range on the continent of 



