TURDINA. 7 
THE FIELDFARE. 
Turpbus pPILARis, Linneus. 
The Fieldfare is one of the regular visitors to our islands, the 
date of its arrival depending upon the autumnal temperature in 
those northern regions of Europe which form its principal breeding- 
ground. Its appearance in Scotland and in eastern England has 
been recorded from the middle of September onwards, but on the 
west side, in Wales and in Ireland, it is usually about the middle of 
October. Every one must be familiar with the large flocks of Felts, 
“Blue Felts,” or “ Felfers,” which during the winter are generally 
distributed throughout the United Kingdom, seeking their food 
over the fields and pasture-lands during open weather, and resorting 
to the- berry-producing hedges when frost hardens or snow covers 
the ground. In backward springs the Fieldfare remains until the 
middle of May, and, exceptionally, till the beginning of June ; but 
there is no proof that it has ever nested in this country. 
An irregular visitor to the Feeroes, this species has wandered to 
Iceland, and once to the island of Jan Mayen. It breeds abun- 
dantly in Scandinavia, Finland, Northern Russia, and Siberia as far 
as the Yenesei, beyond which it becomes rarer ; in smaller numbers 
in Central Russia, the Baltic provinces, East Prussia, and Poland ; 
and of late in Moravia, Bohemia, and Bavaria ; while increasing 
colonies have established themselves in Central Germany, especially 
