NATURAL HISTORY OF THE FIELDFARE. 261 



movable perch, which the fowler uplifts at will, by 

 means of a string, wiien he would tempt the wild 

 bird do^\^l wards. It is remarked, that when half a 

 flock have been allured into the nets by the shrill 

 jerking call of the decoys, the remainder will alight 

 near; and, far from being deterred by the circum- 

 stance, are certain to become also victims of the arti- 

 fice. Whether curiosity, love of song, or pugnacious 

 braver}^ bring the wild birds so easily to the call, it 

 is impossible to determine. That it should be desire, 

 seems unlikely; for the male birds pipe: and male 

 birds are equally numerous, if not more so, than the 

 female wild ones, thus entrapped for the ladies' aviary, 

 or the epicure's table. This, however, is not the only 

 trap laid for them. As the redwings do not roost on 

 the ground, nets are often thrown over trees and 

 hedges, in which they are taken. 



The Fieldfare [Turdusjnlaris, Linn.). — This little 

 bird, of the sparrow kind, makes but a short stay in 

 our countiy ; is wild and tuneless, flies in flocks, and 

 is perhaps the most wary of the smaller species. In 

 Norway and Sweden, and the cold regions generally, 

 the fieldfare tunes his pipe as harmoniously as many of 

 the little warblers, although with us so dull and insipid 

 a bird. Fieldfares migrate to our coasts, tempted 

 hither by the mildness of our winters, and the variety 

 of berries our trees and hedge-rows supply, which 

 form the staple of their food. The rigorous season 

 past, they return to their beloved forests of maple 

 and sycamore, where they sing the live-long day, to 



