39 



FIELDFAKE. 



FELDPARE. FELT. FELTFARE. BLUE-BACK. BLUE-TAIL. BLUE-FELT. 



PLATE XCIX. 



TurJug pilarix, LINNAEUS. LATHAM. 



FIELDFARES build in societies, as many as two hundred nests and 

 upwards having been found within a small circuit of the forest. The 

 same situations appear to be resorted to from year to year from some 

 cause of predilection or other, as with the Rooks. 



The nest, which is placed in pine or fir trees, at a height of from 

 four to forty feet from' the ground, is made of small sticks, grass, and 

 weeds, cemented together with a small quantity of clay, and lined with 

 fine grass. It is for the most part placed against the trunk of the tree, 

 but sometimes at a considerable distance from it, towards the smaller 

 end of the thicker branches. 



The hurried flight and loud harsh cries of the owners, if alarmed, 

 readily lead to their discovery. 



The eggs are from three to five or six in number, of a pale bluish 

 green, spotted with dark reddish brown. 'They are all sometimes so 

 closely freckled over that the colour of the freckles predominates; they 

 all have a variety in which the ground colour is most seen, the red- 

 brown spots being larger and much more sparingly sprinkled/ 



Unfinished nests have been found, and others with newly-laid eggs 

 in them, so late as the 30th. of May. 



The ground part of one is dark grey, speckled with lighter and 

 darker yellowish red spots all over. 



A second is bluish green, with light reddish brown spots mingled 

 together, chiefly at the broad end. 



A third is grey, spotted all over with larger and smaller dull yellowish 

 red spots. 



