SONG- THR US H- RED WING— FIELDFARE. 
3 
Of late years thrushes have increased enormously, 
probably as the result of a succession of mild winters ; 
their nests are to be found in every conceivable situation, 
and frequently on the ground, and so early in the year 
that they are scarcely concealed in the bare bushes and 
hedgerows. 
Gilbert White remarked ^ that, next to the redwings 
and fieldfares during a severe frost, the thrushes are the 
first to fail and die ; and 2 that the root of the Cuckoo- 
pint (Arum) was frequently scratched out of the dry 
banks of hedges and eaten in severe weather, and he found 
it was the thrush kind that searched it out, the root of the 
Arum being remarkably warm and pungent. 
3. Turdus iliacus. Redwing. 
A winter visitor throughout the county and the Isle of 
Wight. 
They usually depart in April, sometimes lingering, 
however, until May ; but Gilbert White remarks that in 
1740 they remained until the beginning of June, after an 
unusually severe winter. 
Neither so common nor so gregarious as the fieldfare. 
5. Turdus pilaris. Fieldfare. 
Blacktail (New Forest). 
A common winter visitor to all parts of the county and 
the Isle of Wight. 
* Letter v. to Barrington. Selborne. April 12th, 1770. 
" Letter xv, to Pennant. Selborne. March 30th, 1768. 
