i MISSEL-THRTJSH.
¡9 OOWCring from Ilio cold and culling winds. I repeatedly noticed these liirtls early in the year perching
nil smile lofty and exposed branch nl some considerable distance IVnni their accustomed haunts, and, after giving
utterance- to a few loud notes, Hying otr again at once on their daily round in quest of food. On March 22,
I'sMI, my attention was attracted near Brighton by a large bird rising in the air from a small damp of trees
and singing while on wing; though the actions were somewhat similar, the drop was by DO means :.o sudden as
that of the Tree-Pipit, being continued for at least fifty or sixty yards. On carefully approaching the next
time the songster mounted in the air, I was sufficiently close to ascertain without doubt that the performer
was a Kissel-Thrush.
The nest is usually placed at some height in a commanding forest tree, at times in a Scotch IIr, or
even in close proximity to a dwelling in an apple- or pear-tree. Being for the most part constructed before
the leaves have opened, it is artfully concealed in a cleft among the branches or against the main stem,
and is rendered still less conspicuous by the application to its exterior of tufts of moss and lichen
gathered from the tree iUelf. While wntehiug a brood of young Redpoll's in the spring of 1S"8 in a damp
alder-ear at Ludhani, in the east of Norfolk, I detected the nest of a Missel-Thrush, l)ui!t in a small stunted
hush within three feet of the ground. I had never previously noticed one at so slight an elevation; and
in this instance it could not have lieen Tor want or larger timber, as several oaks of fair size wen- growing
over the identical hush in which the nest was placed. This lowly site was probably chosen by the old birds
as not so exposed to the attacks of Crows, these depredators being plentiful and unchecked in the district.
The eggs of the Mis>cl-Thrush are too well known to need description, and usually vary hut slightly;
some thirty years ago, however, I took, for four or live successive seasons, one or two clutches of a most
singular variety in the east of Sussex. In shape they were far rounder than the usual type, and were of a pale
uniform blue, similar in colour to those of the Starling; now and then one exhibited a few scrawls of a
darker blue or purple.
I could not learn whether any particular name is assigned to ibis species in the Highlands; indeed in many
glens it appeared to have escaped the notice of the natives. In the broad-district or the east of Norfolk it is
known as the " Dow" or " Doo l'ulfer," its size being imagined to correspond with that of the Dove. In
East Sussex it is invariably termed the " Screech " by the country people.
In hard weather there are few better birds for the table. Young sportsmen who may wish to secure a
bag n ill find it useless to follow this wary species during the day: but by concealing themselves shortly before
dusk in the plantations to which they resort to roost, several shuts may be obtained in rapid succession.
FIELDFARE.
TURDVS PILARIS.
IT is usually suppused that the numbers of fieldfares visiting the British Islands vary considerably according
to the weather. As a rule, in opeu winters but few are noticed for a time, though a sharp frost or a heavy
fall of snow at onee brings thousands under observation. In mild weather I ha\c frequently remarked large
flocks of several hundreds harbouring about various remote parts of the country, where a combination of
large woods and cultivated laud afforded suitable quarters; here they will resort for weeks, if not months,
till a sudden change causes them to move onward, their course in tho first instance being held for the
south. On reaching the coast-lhie, the large flights that have by Ibis time collected pursue their journey
towards the west. Should the winter continue open, it is quite possible that ia many districts not a single
Fieldfare will put in an appearance. During such seasons remarks are frequently made by local observers
in the pages of oruithrilnuieal publications concerning the absence of the Fieldfare.
Early iu January 18*0 two or three reports to this effect appeared; and up to that date, though almost
daily driving along tho coast between Brighton and Sboreham since the first week iu the previous December,
not a single specimen had come under my notice. On the 17th of January, after a sharp white frost in
the early morning, rain fell without intermission during the day, and at dusk a flock of from forty to fifty
Fieldfares were discerned through the mist making their way to roost in a plantation on the downs. Half
a dozen that I bagged to ascertain their condition were as fat as butler, proving that the quarters tiiey
selected had been suited to their wants. Buf small numbers we it) seen during the remainder of the winter
or early spring in the vicinity of the south coast, though on the 10th of March, when about a dozen miles
inland in the well-wooded country near St. John's Common, 1 discovered the nauuts the birds bad taken
up since their arrival iu the south ; from five to seven hundred were busily feeding on the ploughed ground,
betaking themselves, when disturbed, to tho large limber, many trees being perfectly covered by the swarms
settling on the branches. These Fieldfares, I learned, on making inquiries, bad been for many weeks in tho
district. On visiting the spot a fortnight later the greater number had taken their departure.
When gunning on the norlh-east coast of Scotland, I repeatedly remarked large arrivals at the usual
season during autumn, though should the weather prove open but few reach the southern counties of
England. From observations obtained during several years, I am of opinion that much the same numbers
annually land on our shores, though in mild winters their presence may escape the notice of ornithologists;
a severe storm, however, puts the large flocks in motion, and during their flight from north to south uv
to west they are certain to attract attention.
The llith of September, 1SI18, is the earliest date on which I noted Fieldfares in the Highlands: small
parties then continued making their way south across the hills uear Tain for several days. The main bodies,
as a rule, do not reach our coast fill a somewhat later date, though I have detected them as far south as
Cornwall soon after the middle of October. On the 19th, weather at tho time cold and stormy, a party