THE FIELDFARE. 45 



proved conclusively to the observers that they had 

 been mistaken. Now, had we rested content with 

 the assurance that a gentleman " well up in English 

 birds " had seen the Rock Thrush, or a flock of 

 Rock Thrushes, at such and such a place, and 

 had we on the strength of this assurance pub- 

 lished the fact in one or other of the natural 

 history journals, it is difficult to say what amount 

 of mischief might not have resulted from supply- 

 ing such data for future ornithologists to found 

 conclusions on. Those who interest themselves 

 in collecting and publishing accounts of rare birds, 

 cannot be too careful in first ascertaining that the 

 evidence upon which their statements are founded 

 is incontestable. 



But to return to the Fieldfare : few birds seem 

 to attract so much attention at the season of their 

 arrival in this country. During the month of 

 November we see every year numberless short 

 paragraphs in the Field, the Zoologist, and other 

 natural history journals, in which the " first appear- 

 ance " of this species in various localities is duly 

 chronicled and commented on. For six months in 

 the year the Fieldfare is generally dispersed, and 



