FERN-BIRD—FIELDFARE 249 
of the Shaft there is often a small pneumatic foramen for the 
entrance of an AIR-SAC into its then hollow and cancellated interior. 
FERN-BIRD, the name in New Zealand of Sphenwacus punctatus. 
FERN-OWL, one of the many local names of the NIGHTJAR. 
FIBULA, the bone on the outer side of the Trpr, thick at its 
proximal end, but very slender and pointed towards the ankle-joint, 
which, however, is never normally reached, the distal portion of the 
Fibula being already deficient in the Embryo. The Fibula and 
Tibia are frequently more or less coalescent. 
FIELDFARE, Anglo-Saxon /ealo-for (= Fallow-farer), a large 
species of THRUSH, the Zurdus pilaris of Linneeus—well known as 
a regular and common autumnal visitor throughout the British 
Islands and a great part of Europe, besides Western Asia, and even 
reaching Northern Africa. It is the Veldjakker and Veld-lyster of 
the Dutch, the Wachholderdrossel and Kramisvogel of Germans, the 
Litorne of the French, and the Cesena of Italians. This bird is of 
all Thrushes the most gregarious in habit, not only migrating in 
large bands and keeping in flocks during the winter, but even 
commonly breeding in society—200 nests or more having been 
seen within a very small space. The birch-forests of Norway, 
Sweden, and Russia are its chief resorts in summer, but it is known 
also to breed sparingly in some districts of Germany. Though its 
nest has been many times reported to have been found in Scotland, 
there is perhaps no record of such an incident that is not open to 
doubt ; and unquestionably the Mistletoe-Thrush, 7° viscivorus, has 
been often mistaken for the Fieldfare by indifferent observers. 
The head, neck, upper part of the back, and the rump are grey ; 
the wings, wing-coverts, and middle of the back are rich hazel- 
brown ; the throat is ochraceous, and the breast reddish-brown— 
both being streaked or. spotted with black, while the belly and 
lower wing-coverts are white, and the legs and toes very dark 
brown. The nest and eggs resemble those of the BLACKBIRD, 
T. merula, but the former is usually built high up ina tree. The 
Fieldfare’s call-note is harsh and loud, sounding like ?chat-fchat: 
its song is low, twittering, and poor. It usually arrives in Britain 
about the middle or end of October, but sometimes earlier, and 
often remains till the middle of May before departing for its 
northern breeding-places. In hard weather it throngs to the berry- 
bearing bushes which then afford it sustenance, but in open winters 
the flocks spread over the fields in search of animal food—worms, 
mollusks, and the larve of insects. In very severe seasons it will 
altogether leave the country, and then return for a shorter or 
longer time as spring approaches. From the author of William of 
Palerne to the writers of our own day the Fieldfare has occasionally 
