OF THE BIRDS MENTIONED 233 
(except at nesting-time) feeding in a meadow or field, 
with a few others and sometimes in large flocks. They 
feed like the song thrushes moving along the ground 
and stopping every now and then, but assume a very 
statuesque appearance. A flock on alighting scatters 
widely. They are then wary, one bird often giving the 
note of alarm to the whole flock. The flight is louping. 
Its jarring note will attract you. The ordinary song 
is not very melodious. Found: Generally distributed, 
but rare or absent in the north of Scotland. Haunts : 
Wooded districts, orchards and gardens. Male and 
female: Alike, but the female is paler.'| Nature: 
Bold and pugnacious, especially at nesting-time ;_ the 
jarring note is often uttered when quarrelling. Habits : 
See above. Assemble in flocks (large or small) from 
June onwards to midwinter. Food: Besides berries 
(their favourite food), fruit, insects, worms, grubs, etc. 
Not migratory. Flesh: Edible. Nest: Very early in 
spring, at beginning of March. Open, cup-shaped. 
Size : large (about 4 inches across inside) and deep (eggs 
invisible unless seen from above), substantial. Sztu- 
ated: Rarely in evergreens, generally in an oak, elm, 
or beech, or in an apple or pear tree in an orchard, and 
mostly in the thick forks of the main stem, and not high 
(rarely at tops of trees). Not concealed. Made of: 
Moss, and dried grass, and often bits of cloth, etc., 
with mud; limed with fine grasses. (Not limed with 
mud as song thrush’s). Second nests: Two or 
