MERVLIDJE. 105 



ORDER IL INSESSORES. 

 Tribe DENTIROSTRES. Family MERULID^:. 



FIELDFARE (Turdus pilaris). Local names, Felt, 

 Feltfare. This is a regular winter visitant to this 

 country. It usually arrives in Berkshire and Buck- 

 inghamshire during the first week of November; in 

 some seasons it visits us in small flocks during 

 October. Upon the morning of the 25th of Sep- 

 tember, 1867, while standing in Mr. Fenwick Hele's 

 garden at Aldeburgh, in Suffolk, I was greatly sur- 

 prised, on looking up accidentally, to perceive a small 

 flock of Fieldfares flying towards the south-east ; 

 several persons saw them besides myself, and I am 

 fully persuaded as to their identity. Several friends 

 informed me that they saw birds of this species in 

 various parts of England during the last week of 

 September 1867. This very early migration from the 

 north is said to be a certain sign of an unusually 

 severe winter. 



In 1866, I saw the first Fieldfare at the end of 

 October; and in 1867, I was informed that some 

 were seen in Buckinghamshire in September. This 



