WINTER BIRDS. 219 



vailing aspect of their haunts. In this they 

 succeed admirably, and flourish accordingly. 



The Thrush family is one of the most numer- 

 ous among British birds, and in winter comes 

 much under notice. No birds suffer sooner or 

 more acutely from severe weather ; and the first 

 frosts bring them about our gardens and home- 

 steads in seach of food. Many of them are in- 

 stinctively wild birds ; but when their feeding- 

 grounds are buried in snow or hardened by 

 frost, their tameness becomes painfully con- 

 spicuous. And this applies not only to those 

 which are resident throughout the year, but 

 also to those which come to winter with us from 

 the dense forests of Northern Europe. 



Among these are Redwings and Fieldfares, 

 both of which arrive on our coasts in autumn 

 in countless numbers. Later they are occa- 

 sionally joined by rare Bohemian Chatterers 

 with their beautiful wax-like wing appendages, 

 or by a little band of Crossbills. Our resident 

 winter thrushes are the Throstle, Orange-billed 

 Blackbird, Missel-thrush or Storm-cock, Ring- 

 ouzel, and Dipper. The rest of the family is 

 made up of a number of rare and occasionally 

 occurring forms. Among these are White's 



