THE FIELDFARE. 233 
resembling a very handsome Blackbird’s egg. Some varieties are pale 
greenish, with the spots and streaks distributed equally over the whole 
surface and very pale and indistinct, like the duller eggs of the Blackbird ; 
in others the egg is paler in ground-colour, but thickly and boldly blotched 
with reddish brown, like typical eggs of the Ring-Ouzel; while yet, again, 
specimens are more rarely met with almost as blue as Song-Thrush’s, and 
with but one or two streaks of liver-brown on the larger end. They vary 
in length from 1°35 to 1:02 inch, and in breadth from ‘9 to ‘7 inch. When 
their nests are approached the birds often become very noisy and behave 
hike Missel-Thrushes, flying round the head of the intruder, and en- 
deavouring to drive him away from their haunt. This conduct is more 
noticeable should the nests contain young birds; but their constitutional 
shyness soon prevails over their parental instincts, and before you have 
climbed your second tree, all trace of the Fieldfares has vanished, except 
the sound of their tsak, tsak in the distance. 
When the young quit the nest they still keep in their parents’ company, 
wandering about the edges of the woods and open localities, appearing 
in the morning and evening on their feeding-grounds, retiring to the 
thickets at noon and at nightfall. Their food now is principally insects ; 
but in July, when the wild strawberries are ripe, these constitute 
their principal fare. This regular mode of life continues throughout this 
month until the latter end, when the moulting-season commences. By 
the end of August the moult is over, and the birds begin to flock, and then 
their regular nomad life commences. They frequent all the large woods, 
and draw near to those districts where the rowan tree and the wild rose 
abound, on the berries of which they live for the most part, until the 
autumn sends them southwards to their winter haunts. 
The upper parts of the Fieldfare are slate-grey, except the wings and 
tail, which are dark brown, and the head, which is spotted with black. 
The centre of the back is dark chestnut-brown. The throat and breast 
are rich brown, and the centre of the belly is pure white. With the ex- 
ception of the centre of the belly, the whole underparts are spotted and 
marked with rich brown. ‘The bill is yellow, feet and legs black, and irides 
very dark brown. The female resembles the male. Upon its arrival in this 
country the bird has very broad margins to the feathers of-the lower parts, 
giving it a pale appearance ; in fact they are newly-moulted feathers; but 
after the winter has passed these edges are cast and the spots are more 
clearly defined, leaving the bird in its nuptial dress. Like the young of 
all other Thrushes, the Fieldfare is spotted on the back when it leaves the 
nest, but moults again with its parents, before it migrates, almost into 
fully adult plumage. 
The Fieldfare has no very near ally. 
