46 BRITISH BIRDS 



At all seasons the redwing is gregarious, and in its summer IIM nuts 

 many birds are found nesting in close proximity. A good deal of 

 interest attaches to the subject of its song, which Linnaeus thought 

 ' delightful,' and comparable to that of the nightingale an opinion 

 ridiculed by Professor Newton in his edition of Yarrell. Richard 

 Jefferies, who found the redwing breeding and heard its summer 

 song in England, describes its strain as ' sweet and loud -far louder 

 than the old, familiar notes of the thrush. The note rang out clear 

 and high, and somehow sounded strangely unfamiliar among Eng- 

 lish meadows and English oaks.' 1 



Fieldfare. 

 Turdus pilaris. 



Head, nape, and lower part of the back dark ash-grey ; upper 

 part of the back and wing-coverts chestnut-brown ; a white line 

 above the eye ; chin and throat yellow streaked with black ; breast 

 reddish brown spotted with black ; belly, flanks, and lower tail- 

 coverts white, the last two spotted with greyish brown ; under wing- 

 coverts white. Length, ten inches. 



In size and colouring, more especially in the spotted under parts, 

 the fieldfare comes near enough to the missel-thrush to be sometimes 

 confounded with it. Thus, flocks of missel-thrushes seen in autumn 

 are sometimes mistaken for fieldfares that have come at an excep- 

 tionally early date to warn the inhabitants of these islands that the 

 winter will be a severe one. The fieldfare is slightly less in si/e 

 than the missel-thrush, and has a more variegated plumage, and 

 when seen close at hand is a handsome bird. 



He is one of the latest winter visitors to arrive, seldom appearing 

 before the end of October. The return migration takes place at the 

 end of April, or later ; flocks of fieldfares have been known to 

 remain in this country to the end of May, and even to the first week 

 in June. Like the redwing, he is gregarious all the year round ; in 

 his summer home in the Norwegian forests he exists in communi- 

 ties, and the nests are built near each other. The migration is 

 usually performed by night, and the harsh cries of the travellers 

 may be heard in the dark sky, on the east coasts of England and 



1 Wild Lifr in a s>"/ //(/>/ <'<>i<n/y. 



