356 THE THRUSH FAMILY 



often seizing the occasion to make malicious assaults upon the 

 nearest combatant within their reach, only to find themselves en- 

 gaged in duels on their account, the original opponents of the birds 

 they attacked having profited by the diversion to return to their 

 turnips. The stomachs of birds shot when thus feeding have been 

 found full of the pulped Swede, so that there could be no doubt left as 

 to the nature of their business. 1 Fieldfares have also been observed by 

 Dr. Saxby scraping away the snow "with their bills" in order to search 

 for food among the decaying twigs and leaves. Naumann states 

 that, while scratching among the leaves is a regular habit of the 

 redwing, it is only resorted to by the fieldfare under pressure in 

 hard weather. If this be exact, it may be assumed that the red- 

 wing does not neglect the habit in time of stress, and that, raids 

 on turnips apart, he enjoys the same chances of survival as the 

 fieldfare. With the evidence such as it is, one may be excused 

 for not expressing any opinion as to why redwings succumb more 

 readily than their congeners in frost and snow. It may be added that 

 at least one good authority, Mr. Cordeaux, did not admit the fact, his 

 view being that fieldfares suffer most. 2 



The semi-domesticated blackbirds and thrushes, having the re- 

 sources of civilisation at their disposal, suffer no doubt less in hard 

 weather than their shyer congeners, including among the latter the 

 mistle-thrush, who enjoys one marked advantage, however, in the 

 struggle for life, and that is the strength to drive other species from 

 the bush on which he is feeding. The blackbird seems to suffer least 

 of all, and this may be due to his habit of skulking arid scratching 

 under thick bushes. When the song-thrush had abandoned hope, and 

 the fieldfares stood listless on the trees, their feathers puffed out, their 

 wild spirits so tamed that they allowed me to come near enough to 



1 This account of the fieldfare's turnip feast is taken from Thompson's Birds of Ireland. 

 The fact of their feeding on Swedes in cold weather has been noted by several writers. 



2 Saxby, Birds of Shetland ; J. Cordeaux, Birds of the Humber District ; Naumann, Vogel 

 Mitteleuropas, i. Since writing the above, I have observed redwings feeding among fallen 

 leaves ; they tossed them aside with their beaks as do blackbirds. The song-thrush seldom 

 does so. 



