THE FIELDFARE. 43 



Strange to say, in the latter country it appears 

 to depart somewhat from its usual habit in nesting, 

 for Mr. Wheelwright says : " They did not breed 

 here in colonies ; for although the nests are seldom 

 far apart, we never found two in the same tree." 1 



Some few instances are on record of the Field- 

 fare having remained to breed in Great Britain ; but 

 such instances are very rare, and must be looked 

 upon as purely accidental. The counties in which 

 nests are reported to have been found are Suther- 

 land (St. John), Yorkshire (Yarrelt), Kent (Yarrelt), 

 Surrey (BlytK), and Hants (Bree). 



In Orkney and Shetland the Fieldfare is a 

 regular winter visitant, and in the former island it 

 has occasionally been known to stay during the 

 whole year, although never found nesting there. 2 



As a rule the Fieldfare arrives in England dur- 

 ing the third week of October, and generally later 

 than the Redwing. Instances are recorded of Field- 

 fares having been seen in August and September ; 

 but in most cases it was found, on inquiry, that 

 the observers had mistaken a flock of Mistletoe 



1 A Spring and Summer in Lapland, p. 282. 

 2 Baikie and Heddle, Hist. Nat. Orcadensis, 1848, p. 34- 



