52 



K 



12 



wounded Hooded Crow, on the ground, which was running the gauntlet between some thirty or 

 forty swooping chattering Fieldfares. When we first found the Fieldfares breeding we noticed 

 that they frequently sung on the wing as they flew to and fro over the wood, uttering a rather 

 pretty low warble, which, however, was constantly interrupted by their usual harsh note. As we 

 did not observe this habit later, we think it likely that it is confined to the season of courtship, 

 and abandoned when the female begins to sit. On many occasions we found the nests of this 

 bird partially destroyed and the eggs broken and emptied ; but we failed to discover the cause." 

 The observations above recorded were made during the recent trip of the two gentlemen men- 

 tioned to Norway ; and Mr. Robert Collett writes to us concerning the species as observed by 

 him in the same country : — " In treeless localities, as for instance in Bergens Stift and further 

 north, it builds on the ground, placing its nest on the edge of a rock under heather, or else on 

 the shepherds' huts, or fences near the houses. In Valders a milk-woman found a nest in a 

 milk-pail far inside the dairy-hut. She placed the pail near the opening in the wall, and the old 

 birds used to come in and out, and finally brought up their young in safety." Before closing our 

 remarks on the nesting of the Fieldfare in Norway, we must cite the account given in the 

 'Zoologist' for 1850 by the Rev. A. C. Smith (p. 2046): — "By the time I reached Norway (the 

 beginning of June) the season was too far advanced to give me much hope of obtaining any rare 

 eggs. One of the few nests which I was fortunate enough to find with eggs was that of the 

 Fieldfare. It was within three or four days of my landing in the country ; and I was wandering 

 with my gun on a small island, in the midst of a roaring torrent, and admiring the activity of 

 some little Wild Ducks just hatched, which were swimming merrily about with their anxious 

 mother, who did not seem to approve of my inquisitiveness, when the loud chattering of some 

 Fieldfares attracted me to a clump of trees in the middle of the island. After a very little 

 March I descried the nest, about twenty-six feet from the ground, in an alder tree. I soon 

 climbed the tree and brought clown the nest, which contained five eggs. The nest resembled that 

 of a Blackbird (for I pulled it to pieces and examined its make thoroughly) ; only it was con- 

 siderably larger and much more neatly made ; it was also extremely thick, and very securely fixed 

 in the fork of a tree. This I found to be invariably the case with these nests ; for I examined many 

 others afterwards, though I was never again fortunate enough to find any eggs. Those which I 

 now obtained were very difficult to empty of their contents, as the young birds were nearly ready 

 for hatching ; however, by making a large hole on one side of the egg, I succeeded pretty well ; 

 and they are now safely housed hi my cabinet, with no damage from the two thousand miles of 

 shaking they have undergone in a carriole without springs, on some of the worst roads in Europe. 

 The eggs, in colour, size, and shape, very much resemble those of the Blackbird. I have been 

 comparing them, by placing them side by side ; and I find the ground-colour of the Fieldfare 

 somewhat greener, and the markings somewhat redder, the latter amounting rather to blotches 

 or spots than specks or streaks ; the shape of the Fieldfare's egg, too, is a trifle rounder than that 

 of the Blackbird, in this respect more nearly resembling that of the Song-Thrush. Comparing 

 it with my own specimens, the figure in Mr. Hewitson's admirable work is much too red, the 

 ground-colour being not sufficiently apparent, and the spots of red being far too numerous, and 

 of too light a colour : but the eggs of this genus vary so much that perhaps the figure there 

 given may be as correct a type as my own ; I would remark, however, that the specimens of this 



