The Fieldfare. 15 



does not arrive till mid-winter, and is onl}'- found on the farms and pastures 

 — in the little oases of cultivated land so sparingly scattered amongst the wide- 

 stretching moorland wastes. In Ireland these birds also arrive late, and are 

 found commonly distributed over those districts suitable to their habits and 

 needs — the cultivated tracts. Fieldfares have been said to have bred in the 

 British Islands ; but until definite proofs are forthcoming it is not safe to admit 

 the truth of the statement, the birds being very liable to be confounded with 

 Missel-Thrushes by careless observers. The Fieldfare has a somewhat more 

 southerly breeding-range than the Redwing. It breeds in the Arctic circle, 

 extending up to, and occasionally beyond, the limit of forest growth, and in 

 north -temperate Europe as far South and West as the basin of the Baltic, and 

 throughout Siberia as far East as the watershed of the Yenesay and the Lena. 

 Its occurrence in Iceland is doubtful,* but it has been occasionally met with 

 on the Faroes. It winters in Southern Europe, occurring very rarely in the 

 Spanish peninsula, but crossing the Mediterranean to Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, 

 and Nubia. In Asia it winters in Turkestan and Cashmere ; and one specimen 

 at least has been obtained at Simla, in the North- West Himalayas." 



The Fieldfare in breeding plumage is slaty-grey on the upper parts with 

 the exception of the mantle which is chestnut brown, and the wings and tail, 

 which are dark brown ; the head is streaked with black ; the throat and breast are rich 

 golden brown, spotted and streaked with blackish brown ; the flanks are similar, but 

 more orange internally ; the centre of the belly is pure white and unspotted ; the bill 

 yellowish ; feet black ; iris deep brown. The female greatly resembles the male, 

 but the young on leaving the nest are spotted with buff on the back, though after 

 the first moult they much resemble their parents. 



The Fieldfare's season of migration varies somewhat in accordance with the 

 milder or colder temperature of its breeding-haunts ; in like manner its time of 

 departure from our shores depends greatly upon the appearance of spring weather ; 

 there is no defined appointed time for its migration. Cold and scarcity of food in 

 its native home represent the voice of nature calling upon it to seek comfort in 

 somewhat milder regions ; then again, the return of warmth and living food remind 

 it that the season of love is at hand, and the inherited habit of centuries teaches 

 this bird to seek for the fulfilment of its hopes in the land of its birth ; doubtless 

 this is largely the cause of the so-called migratory instinct in all birds, the weaker 

 and more sensitive to cold and hunger being the first to migrate ; therefore it is 

 that the Redwing precedes the Fieldfare. 



It is easy to distinguish a Fieldfare from a Missel Thrush when it is on the 



•There seems, however, to be very little question that this species is an occasional Icelandic visitant. — A.G.B. 



D 



