ORDER PASSERES. 527 



cept to pass the night there. During this entire season they 

 live in society, travel together, and remain all the winter 

 "without separating, perch all on the same or the most neigh- 

 bouring trees ; it is not rare to see them assembled to the 

 number of two or three thousand, in places where the lotus 

 grows, the fruit of which they eat with avidity. The field- 

 fares also subsist on slugs and worms, which they ai'e observed 

 to pursue eagerly after rain in humid soils, or grounds newly 

 ploughed. When these ahmentsare wanting, they eat misletoe, 

 and various berries, among which are those of the whitethorn. 

 They disappear in spring, but a few remain to the end of 

 April. Then they are found in pairs, as this is the coupling 

 time. The male is easily distinguished at this epoch fi'om the 

 female ; the gray of his head and neck assumes a bluish tint, 

 tolerably brilliant ; the beak is of a fine yellow, and its extre- 

 mity of a decided black. These couples may be sometimes 

 observed, after a long winter, on the borders of thickets, far 

 remote from habitations, but they are seen no longer when 

 May sets in. Those fieldfares which are late go then to rejoin 

 their companions, and pass the summer in the north, where they 

 hatch the voung. We can affirm nothing respecting the song 

 of these birds, as we do not see them during the love season. 

 The male and female with us utter the same cries, whether 

 for warning or rallying. It is said that in Poland and Lower 

 Austria, and Linnaeus and Meyer add in Sweden, they nestle 

 on high trees, and lay four or six eggs, of a sea-green, pointed 

 with^ reddish-brown. M. Vieillot says they never nestle in 

 our climates. This may be true of France, but Dr. Latham 

 mentions an instance or two of the fieldfare's nest being found 

 in this country. Their flesh is not so much esteemed as that 

 of other thrushes ; some say it acquires a good flavour when 

 the birds feed on flax-seed, others that it is never better or 

 more succulent than when they live on worms or insects. In 

 general, however, it is insipid enough. The fieldfares may be 

 taken by net, bird-call, or snares of any kind ; shooting them 

 is an easy sport. 



