392 A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



FIELD -CHARACTERS. Very shy, usually haunting thick forest - 

 growth, where it is extremely difficult to observe. Apparently 

 a very silent bird, but is said by Japanese to possess a melancholy 

 song which is usually heard in overcast weather. Movements 

 and general appearance suggestive of Mistle-Thrush but at close 

 range crescentic markings distinctly visible. (Collingwood Ingram.) 

 BREEDING-HABITS. Haunts deep forest with heavy undergrowth. 

 Nest. Usually placed in fork of tree, about 12 to 20 ft. up, built 

 chiefly of moss with a few twigs and thickly lined pine-needles. 

 Eggs. 4-5, occasionally 3, greenish-blue ground almost obscured 

 by fine reddish freckles, but generally one egg in each set shows 

 much more ground-colour and fewer and bolder markings. Average 

 size of 90 eggs, 32.6x23.9 mm. Breeding-season. From mid-May 

 onward to late July in Japan. Probably double-brooded. 

 FOOD. Said to consist chiefly of insects, but Swinhoe says it eats 

 banyan berries in spring in China. Small beetles and fibrous matter 

 in a Norfolk specimen (T. E. Gunn). 



DISTRIBUTION. British Isles. Vagrant. Since the first, near 

 Christchurch (Hants.), Jan. 24, 1828, authentic examples have been 

 recorded, almost all in winter, from Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, 

 Gloucester, Salop, Warwick, Sussex (four), Suffolk, Norfolk, Yorks. 

 (five), Durham, Northumberland. In Scotland two, Hardacres 

 (Berwick), Dec. 1878, Aberdeen, Oct. 1913. In Ireland three, 

 near Bandon (Cork), Ballymahon (Longford), and Westport (Mayo). 

 DISTRIBUTION. Abroad. East Siberia and Japan. Winters in 

 south China and Formosa. Occasionally observed in Philippine 

 Islands, in Pegu, Assam, west Siberia, and various parts of Europe 

 from Urals and Scandinavia to Belgium, France, and Italy. 

 Replaced by other subspecies on Loo Choo (Riu Kiu) Islands, in 

 mountains of Java and Lombok, Himalayas (T. dauma dauma), 

 south India, Sechuan and Siam, the last requiring confirmation. 



[NOTE. An example of the SIBERIAN THRUSH, Turdus sibiricus sibiricus 

 Pal., is said to have been shot in Surrey (winter 1860-61) and another to have 

 been picked up at Bonchurch, Isle of Wight (winter 1874), but the evidence 

 is not considered sufficient (cf. Saunders, p. 12). The adult male is dark slate- 

 colour with a pure white eye-stripe and white centre of belly and tips of under 

 tail- and wing-coverts and tail-feathers, while the female is dark brown above 

 and whitish (feathers tipped brown) below, axillaries white with blackish tips. 

 It inhabits Siberia, wintering in eastern India, Andamans, south China and 

 Greater Sunda Islands. Has been obtained in Germany, Belgium, Holland, 

 France, and Bulgaria.] 



TURDUS PILARIS 



164. Turdus pilaris L. THE FIELDFARE. 



TURDUS PILARIS Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. x, i, p. 168 (1758 Europe. 



Restricted typical locality : Sweden). 



Turdus pilaris Linnaeus, Yarrell, I, p. 272 ; Saunders, p. 7. 



