30 BIRDS OF MIDDLESEX. 



hand, and brought it home with me. I kept it alive 

 for two days, providing it with a good supply of haws, 

 but it died nevertheless on the third day. The 

 favourite food of the Fieldfare, at least in winter, 

 seems to be the fruit of the hawthorn, but it also 

 lives upon the berries of the holty, ivy, and missel- 

 toe, varying this diet with snails and worms. 



Mr. Spencer tells me that he once saw a Field- 

 fare which was nearly black, in a field near Kilburn, 

 and would have mistaken it for a Blackbird, except 

 for its note, and the fact of its being with others of 

 its species. 



The call-note of the Fieldfare is a difficult one to 

 imitate, and sounds like the word " fu-igh," while 

 the alarm-note is more quickly repeated, and sounds 

 like " tcha-cha-cha." 



SONG THRUSH, Turdus musicus. A common resi- 

 dent, and one of the earliest breeders. Mr. Belfrage, 

 when residing at Muswell Hill, once observed a 

 Thrush sitting during and after a snow storm. And 

 I once found a Thrush's nest, containing one egg, 

 on the 2 3rd February. 



Yarrell says, " Occasionally this bird has been 

 known to make its nest in an open shed, or tool- 

 house ;" and this statement I can confirm, for on the 

 18th April, 1862, I found a nest of this species, 

 containing five young birds, placed upon a beam in 

 an open shed. 



We should protect the Thrush for its utility in 



