THE FIELDFARE. 28? 



with outspread and nearly stationary wings, on to the tree 

 where his mate has her nest, he will warhle forth a few high 

 trills. 



During the summer the fieldfare lives on larvae, small 

 snails, worms, and the like ; and in the autumn and winter on 

 herries such as mountain-ash berries, juniper berries, cow- 

 berries (Vaccinium Vitis Id&a, Linn.), and crow-berries 

 (Empetrum nigrum, Linn.) 



The fieldfare usually breeds in Barr-skogar ; at . times, 

 however, in those consisting of other trees, such as the 

 aspen, the birch, and the alder ; and almost always in colonies. 

 Hundreds of nests may indeed be occasionally seen within a 

 very confined space. The nest, which is commonly placed 

 on a bough or twig of the crown of a tree, is nearly round 

 in form, and ingeniously constructed of small twigs, cemented 

 with clay, &c. ; within it is lined with the roots of grass, 

 and other soft substances. The female lays from five to 

 six eggs of a greenish colour, marked with brown spots, 

 not unlike in appearance those of the crow family. They 

 are one inch one line in length, and six and a half lines 

 in breadth. " The fieldfare," according to Ekstrom, " first 

 prepares its nest in June." Nilsson, on the other hand, says 

 that " it commences breeding in March, and that so early as 

 the middle of May the young are fully fledged ;" and adds, 

 that " this bird breeds several times in the year." 



This bird is sometimes domesticated in Scandinavia. Lin- 

 naeus makes mention of one belonging to a publican in 

 Stockholm that was allowed its full liberty, and was accus- 

 tomed to sip wine out of the glasses of the guests an indul- 

 gence that at length caused it to become quite bald. When 

 at an after-period, however, the great naturalist goes on to 



