47 



although there had been some weeks of fine summer-like 'weather previously, which we might 

 imagine would have tempted them to move northwards." 



Kjserbolling states that in some winters it is common in Denmark, a few wintering there. 

 Mr. R. Collett writes that in Norway it breeds all over the country, in the interior of the eastern 

 portion in rather elevated districts, and in the birch-regions on the fells. Along the west coast 

 it is found in very large numbers up to the Russian frontier. During migration and in winter it 

 visits the lower regions in large flocks. Messrs. Harvie Brown and Alston, who made a trip to 

 Norway in the summer of 1871, have very kindly sent us their notes on the present species, as 

 follows : — 



"The 'Trost' is certainly the most abundant species met with in Norway, whether in the 

 valleys or in the birch-region of the fjelcls. We found it breeding as high as the birch trees 

 extend, and occasionally even higher; not unfrequently we observed birds among the dwarf 

 birch (Betula nana) of the high fjelds; and one nest was found in that region on the bare 

 unsheltered face of a lichen-covered rock." The accompanying remarks were published by 

 Messrs. F. and P. Godman in their well-known paper on the birds observed by them near 

 Bodo : — " A plentiful bird about Bodo, breeding there in tolerable numbers. We discovered 

 two large colonies, from which we took many eggs. The nests were usually placed from ten to 

 fifteen feet from the ground. The first colony we discovered May 20th. On the 27th we took 

 two nests ; but as the greater number of them did not contain their full complement of eggs, we 

 left them. On returning three or four days after, we found that the Magpies and Crows had 

 forestalled us. This colony was situated among some willow and birch trees, on a hill in the 

 marsh. The other colony, which we discovered some days later, was up the mountains. Besides 

 these two colonies, we took several nests situated by themselves, and far away from what were 

 apparently their headquarters. The latter we were careful to identify. Our attention was 

 attracted to the second colony by the noise made by the old birds." 



Nilsson says it is the commonest Thrush in Scandinavia, and is found in summer from the 

 pine-woods of Smaland and Blekinge up into the Arctic regions, being much more numerous in 

 the north. Although large quantities migrate southward in the winter, its numbers appear 

 undiminished ; and the remaining flocks wander about the woods and places overgrown with 

 junipers, the berries of which form their chief food during the winter. In the spring these flocks 

 migrate northward, and are replaced by others arriving from the south. In Hewitson's ' Eggs of 

 British Birds' is published a note by the late Mr. Wolley to the effect that he discovered unfinished 

 nests and fresh-laid eggs of the Fieldfare near Kalix, on the 30th of May, and that the four or five 

 breeding-places which he found were amongst very young fir trees upon the borders of the forest, 

 and near cultivated land. He adds : — " The Fieldfare is the most abundant in Norway, and is 

 generally diffused over that part of the country which we visited, from Drontheim to the Arctic 

 Circle. It builds, as before stated, in society. Two hundred nests or upwards may be found 

 within a small circuit of the forest." Pastor Sommerfelt records it as common in summer on the 

 Varanger-fjord ; and the late Mr. Wheelwright states that at Quickjock, in Lapland, it was the 

 commonest bird in the forests, with the exception of the Brambling. Respecting its occurrence 

 in Finland, Von Wright observes : — " It is our commonest Thrush, and is found all over the 

 country. In Southern Finland large numbers remain over the winter, which is not the case as 



