The FIELDFARE, or JUNIPER THRUSH (_Turdus pilaris_), is ten inches long
and sixteen and a half broad; the wing measures five and a half and
the tail about four inches. The plumage of this species is unusually
variegated: the head, nape, and rump are deep grey; the upper part of
the back and region of the shoulder dull chestnut-brown; the quills and
tail-feathers black, the former and the feathers of the wing-covers being
grey upon the outer web and tip; the exterior tail-feathers are bordered
with white; the front of the throat is dark reddish yellow, spotted
longitudinally with black; the feathers on the breast are brown, with
a whitish edge; the rest of the under side is quite white; the eye is
brown, the beak yellow, and the foot dark brown. The female is somewhat
paler than her mate.
[Illustration: THE SONG THRUSH (_Turdus musicus_).]
These birds mostly live and breed in the extensive birch forests that
abound in Northern Europe, and usually make their appearance in the
central portions of that continent late in the autumn, rarely wandering
as far as its extreme south. They generally appear in Great Britain
in large flocks about March, when, should the season permit, they at
once spread themselves over the fields in every direction in search
of insects, or if these have all disappeared, seek the berries that
constitute their principal food in our hedges and gardens. But should
the weather prove so exceptionally cold as to deprive them of the latter
means of support, they are compelled to wander still farther south,
returning, however, to Great Britain again before the end of the winter.
Under ordinary circumstances, they remain with us till May, and have
occasionally been known to breed in Yorkshire, Kent, and some parts
of Scotland. Mr. Hewitson thus describes the habits of the Fieldfare
when preparing its nest:--"After a long ramble through some very thick
woods, our attention was attracted by the harsh cries of several
birds, which we at first supposed to be Shrikes, but which afterwards
proved to be Fieldfares. We were soon delighted by the discovery of
several of their nests, and were surprised to find them--so contrary
to the habits of other species of the genus _Turdus_ with which we are
acquainted--breeding in society. Their nests were at various heights from
the ground, from four feet to thirty or forty feet, or upwards; they were
for the most part placed against the trunk of the spruce fir; some were,
however, at a considerable distance from it, upon the upper surface,
and towards the smaller end of the thicker branches: they resemble most
nearly those of the Ring Ouzel; the outside is composed of sticks and
coarse grass and weeds, gathered wet, matted with a small quantity of
clay, and lined with a thick bed of fine dry grass. None of them as yet
contained more than three eggs, although we afterwards found that five
was more commonly the number than four, and that even six was very
frequent. The eggs are very similar to those of the Blackbird, and still
more to those of the Ring Ouzel."
[Illustration: FIELDFARES.]