Birds of Britain 



his parents, to make the most of the short summer, busy 

 themselves with the cares of a second brood. It is not 

 until the first storms and snows of winter come that the 

 Fieldfare leaves his summer home, though during the 

 few weeks that have elapsed since he left the nest he 

 may have wandered aimlessly far from his birthplace. 

 The chill mists of autumn, however, remind him that he 

 must move south, so reluctantly, as if clinging to the edge 

 of winter, he finally takes flight, and we in England hear his 

 '* chack, chack " towards the end of October, his numbers 

 being continually augmented as each fresh northerly blast 

 drives some of his kind farther and farther south. While 

 with us, as he is essentially a sociable bird, he attaches 

 himself to wandering flocks of Missel Thrushes and Bedwings, 

 and among the former he may always be distinguished by 

 his light -coloured rump, which shows up conspicuously 

 against the darker wings and mantle. Thus he wanders 

 the whole winter through, feeding chiefly on the hips and 

 haws in the hedges, and probably also on worms and grubs, 

 for he may frequently be met with in ploughed fields. At 

 night, with much " chacking," he goes to roost in some thick 

 hedge, coppice, or plantation, where, in company with the 

 Missel Thrushes, he will seek the highest branches, while 

 the Eedwing roosts in the thicker growth below. In hard 

 weather he does not seem to suffer like the Eedwing, 

 possibly from his marked preference for berries, which even 

 the heaviest snow does not cover. It would seem as if the 

 long journeys which he has to take were distasteful to him, 

 for summer is nearly with us before the last Fieldfares have 

 left our shores, as not uncommonly they may be seen until 



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