MU. J. il. lilJKNEY, JUiN., ON THE TllKUbU TUIUE IN ENULAND. (iio 
himself positive.^ Wo have also supposed instances of its nesting 
at Huddershekl,- and York,-’ in Lancashire, in Hants,-* in Kent, 
8elkirksliire,^ Aberdeenshire,” and Sutherlandsliire," and in 
Sulfolk,® and certainly it seems hardly fair to the recorders to 
{issume that they are all mistakes. Prolonged frost always drives 
Fieldfares to great e.xtremities. At these times they seek the turnips, 
and it is extraordinary what holes they dig in them ; and I have 
known them sometimes consume nearly half a large turnip unaided 
by any other bird ; but this has been when the turnips have been 
scattered for sheep. They prefer these because they are often 
partially eaten or rotten. 
The Fieldfare breeds in colonies in the northern Pala\arctic 
regions, moving south in autumn, at which season it is well-known 
to the inhabitants of Heligoland. (liitke say.s, countless flights 
appeared there in January, 1878, and it was at this very time that 
their great scarcity was noticed in Lincolnshire by Mr. Cordeaux.** 
They are considered a delicacy in tlermany, of which 1 have seen 
abundant evidence in the market at Berlin. 1,31)5,702 Fieldfares 
are given in a single year’s “ lletnrns of Game ” by the Bureau of 
Statistics in that city, but it is to be presumed that it includes all 
other Thrushes in this huge total. H. L. Meyer gives an account 
of the way in which they catch them woi-th reading.*® 
Blackuird, TnnhiK meriila, Linn. 
The Blackbird is a favourite with very class in the community. 
Its attractive appearance was not overlooked by our great jwet 
Shakespeare. In the well-known line in Midsummer ^sight’s 
Dream he says : 
“ The owzel-coek, so t)hick of hue, 
"With orange tawny bill.*' 
Perhaps Shakespeare did not describe an adult bird, but Drayton 
’ Cf. ‘Field,’ June 17th, 1871 ; ‘Birds of Euroi>e,’ vol. ii. p. 4(3. 
‘ Yorkshire Naturalists’ Transactions,’ vol. i.\. p. 75. 
” ‘Field,’ May 2Gth, 1888. * ‘Zoologist,’ 18G0, p. 18(34. 
•’ ‘ MagJizine of Natural History,’ 18:37, p. 330. 
” ‘Field,’ Dec. 5th, 1874; ‘ Natural History Society of Glasgow,’ 187(3, p. 177. 
'■ ‘ Tour in Sutherland,’ vol. i. p. 20(3. * ‘ Birds of Suffolk,’ p. 50. 
’ ‘ Zoologist,’ 1878, p. 243. An indication that they do not come to our 
.diores via Heligoland. 
‘ British Bird.s’ vol. ii. p. 12. 
