7 2 
British Birds. 
Prussia, extending to central Siberia, and wintering to the southward in the rest 
of Europe and North Africa, as well as in Central Asia and North-western India. 
The Fieldfare is a conspicuous bird with a chestnut-brown back and grey head 
and rump ; the throat and breast are ochreousbuff, with black streaks on the former 
and black spots on the latter. In Great Britain it is only found in winter, and in 
mild seasons is the very shyest of birds, frequenting the open country, but in severe 
times it has to subsist on berries and is then driven in by stress of weather to 
parks and gardens, where their hard lot makes the poor birds comparatively tame. 
In many parts of its northern breeding-range the Fieldfare is a gregarious species 
and nests in company, but not invariably. I have found them in colonies up to 
2000 feet in Norway, but at 3000 feet they are often found in isolated birch- 
woods, two and three pairs together within a small area. A few couples nest in 
the upper regions at about 3500 feet, generally selecting a belated pine-tree in 
which to build. The vociferous chatter which distinguishes the note of 
the Fieldfare in England in winter is also heard in the colonies which breed in 
Norway, and the nest can generally be discovered without difficulty from the anxious 
cries of the parents. Some of the situations chosen by the birds are almost absurd 
in their prominence, the nest being placed in an isolated tree, or on the top of a 
hedge, passed a dozen times a day within a yard by every inhabitant of the farm, and 
in 1897 I actually found a nest on the exposed window-ledge of an inhabited 
dairy-farm high up in the mountains. The nest resembles that of the Blackbird, 
and the eggs, from four to six in number, are bluish-green with rufous or chestnut 
markings. 
common in North America, and may occasionally wander eastward to our shores. 
species, of extreme splendour as regards their colour, are not remarkable for 
their voice, and generally possess no song at all. The spotted plumage of 
the young proves the Nightingale to be a member of the family Turdidcr, 
and not to be a Warbler as is often suggested. It is only a summer visitor 
to England, and scarcely extends beyond the midland counties nor 
westward beyond Devonshire and the eastern counties of Wales. Its winter 
home appears to be in West Africa, and its summer range on the continent of 
THE 
AMERICAN 
THRUSH. 
( Titrdus 
migratorius.) 
This species (see p. 67) often called the Migratory Thrush, and in 
the New World known as the American ‘ Robin ’ on account 
of the similarity of its red breast to that of our European 
Robin, has been twice procured in Great Britain, once near 
Dover and a second time near Dublin ; whether these individuals 
had escaped from confinement is uncertain, but the species is 
THE COMMON 
NIGHTINGALE. 
(Daulias luscinia.) 
The Nightingale is a somewhat sober-plumaged bird, hut 
its song is one of the most beautiful in the world. Thus 
it proves the fact, that our little warblers excel in song 
if not in the brilliancy of their plumage, whereas tropical 
