282 A SPRING AND SUMMER IN LAPLAND. 



valued them as much as nests of the pied gros- 

 beak; in fact, it might, as well as the missel- 

 thrash (Turdus viscivorus, Lin. ; " dubbel trast," 

 Sw.), be considered rare in this district. I only 

 took one nest of the missel-thrush here (and it 

 was considered a great rarity), and that was on 

 July 9, with four fresh eggs. I was surprised at 

 this, for I always considered that, both in England 

 and in the middle of Sweden, this bird was among 

 our earliest breeders. 



The fieldfare (T. pilaris, Lin.; "bjork trast," 

 Sw. ; " baflerastes," Lap.) was, next to the bramb- 

 ling, the commonest bird in these forests, and its 

 hoarse, laughing cackle (for I never heard this bird 

 make the faintest attempt at a song) followed us 

 wherever we went in the fir forest (and I never saw 

 the fieldfare breeding anywhere else). These birds 

 are, in fact, the greatest nuisance to the collector 

 in these woods. They did not breed here in 

 colonies, for, although the nests are seldom far 

 apart, we never found two in the same tree. I 

 think no thrush's egg is subject to so much varia- 

 tion as the egg of the fieldfare, and it would be 

 almost impossible to describe it better than that it 

 much resembles the egg of the blackbird, but is 

 usually more highly coloured. We took our first 

 nest on May 25, and our last on July 7 ; but at 

 this time some of the young were flyers. 



