124 HALF-HOURS IN THE GBEEN LANES. 



ground, rushing at one another, leaping and striking 

 with the bill, is very similar to that of gamecocks. 

 You will find the variety in the colour of the ruffs, 

 however, very similar no two being found com- 

 pletely alike. The frill round the neck of the male 

 only lasts about three months, from April to July. 

 These birds were once so common that they were 

 sold in the markets now they are among the rarest 

 of our native species. Let us hope that the Act for 

 the preservation of small birds, now in force, will 

 protect those forms, which appear to be hunted down 

 in proportion as they are getting scarcer. The 

 ruff is a migratory bird, and makes its way southerly 

 at the approach of winter. 



Let us next notice a bird conspicuous for its 

 absence, in the summer, from our green lanes ; but 

 which more than atones for this, in the opinion of 

 the sportsman, for its abundance in the winter. It 

 is a migratory bird, but one that comes to us in the 

 dark months, preferring our mild winter to the more 

 frigid one of its summer habitat. The Fieldfare 

 (Turdus pilaris) is, as its natural history name 

 indicates, nearly allied to our common song thrush 

 and blackbirds. It differs from these familiar birds, 

 however, in its habits being gregarious. Mr. 

 Hewitson tells us that, in Norway, he has noticed 

 two hundred nests of this species within a very 

 small space. In that country, it is the commonest 

 of all summer birds, so that it does not make such a 

 long migratory journey as, for instance, the swallow. 



