5?j 



13 



egg in the Museums of Christiania and Trondhjem are identical in colour with my own, and that 

 they approach far nearer to the figure Mr. Hewitson gives of the eggs of the Redwing than to that 

 of the Fieldfare. I climbed many other trees, to inspect the nests of the Fieldfares, and found 

 many with young birds. I was much struck by the parental love and undaunted boldness of the 

 old birds, who would fly round and round, and dart at me within a few inches of my hat, 

 screaming and chattering as loudly as they could — so very different from the wild, unapproachable 

 bird which so often baffles the schoolboy in the winter. Fieldfares are certainly the most 

 numerous birds in Norway ; and we may hear them chattering and clamouring from every cluster 

 of low trees and bushes in the vicinity of a torrent. I have noticed that they usually build in 

 the neighbourhood of a stream, and always in society. Mr. Hewitson says that the number of 

 nests in one colony sometimes amounts to upwards of two hundred. I have never seen above 

 eight or nine nests together." 



Dresser, who has had opportunities of observing the breeding of the Fieldfare, gives the 

 following extract from his note-book : — " The nest itself is constructed of coarse grass worked 

 together with earth, and lined with fine grass — in general appearance considerably resembling 

 that of the Ring-Ouzel. Once, in Northern Sweden, near Lulea, I found a nest of the Fieldfare 

 placed in the hollow top of a rotten stump, not a foot above the ground. This nest was very 

 large, the foundation filling entirely the hollow portion of the stump. Whenever an intruder 

 approaches their nest the old birds fly round, uttering, like the Missel-Thrush, harsh and loud 

 cries ; and thus it is easy to discover their breeding-place." 



We have great pleasure in giving the following notes from the pen of the late Mr. John 

 Wolley, which will shortly be published in the second part of the 'Ootheca Wolleyana;' and for 

 this privilege we have to thank our kind friend Professor Newton. The first observation refers 

 to a nest taken by Mr. Wolley himself at Pitea, on the 27th of May 1853, concerning which he 

 writes as follows: — " I took this egg between Rosvik and Ervnas, having just seen the bird leave 

 the nest and sit on a tree close by. It was in a fir tree, within reach from the ground. Other 

 nests were in neighbouring trees ; but of several which I examined, none had eggs, except this. 

 They were made of coarse grass and mud, lined with fine grass. The old Fieldfares kept flying 

 from tree to tree ; snow was in deep wreaths beneath the trees." The second note refers to four 

 eggs taken at Ranea, on the 27th of May 1853, and continues: — "These eggs I took in the 

 afternoon between Perso and Ranea. There were several nests, but two only had eggs. The 

 trees were young spruce, the nests generally not higher than my face. The birds were flying in 

 trees near, all the time I was at the place, one with materials for its nest in its beak first 

 attracting my attention. I shot one ; but I know not which nest of those around me belonged 

 to it. The trees were open, and the nests at intervals, perhaps, of several trees." The next lot 

 of eggs mentioned in the catalogue are several from Kalix and Saivits, taken on May 30th, 1853, 

 to which the following note is appended: — "All the above I took this day in the drive from 

 Kalix to Haparanda. Leaving Kalix gastgifvaregard at three o'clock a.m., I presently saw a 

 Fieldfare descending with its kind of song towards some young firs bordering an open field or 

 two ; and amongst these trees I found six or eight nests. The bird was sitting upon the first 

 nest ; her side face was towards me, and I almost caught her upon her four eggs. Several of 

 the nests were not finished ; but I found one with three, and two with five eggs each. This same 



