48 F i l l . 1)1''A R E
M i n e situations appear to Ik* r e s o r t e d to from y e a r to year from some
cause of p r e d i l e c t i o n or other, as with the Hooks.
The nest, which is placed in pine or fir trees, at a height of from
four to forty feet from the ground, is made of small sticks, grass, and
weeds, cemented together with a small quantity of clay, and lined
with fine grass. It is for the most part placed against the trunk of
the tree, but sometimes at a considerable distance from it, towards the
smaller end of the thicker branches.
The eggs are from three to five or six in number, of a pale bluish
green, spotted with dark reddish brown. The hurried flight and loud
harsh cries of the owners, if alarmed, readily lead to their discovery.
The young are not able to fly until the first week in August.
Male; weight, four ounces; length, ten inches and a half, to ten
and three quarters; bill, orange at the base, most so on the lower
mandible, brownish black at the end; the inside of the mouth is also
orange; between the bill and the eye there is a black mark, which
follows also under it, and a dark line passes backwards in a semicircle.
Iris, dark brown, the eyelids are yellow; over the eye is a streak of
pale grey, or buff, sometimes inclining to pale yellowish white; there
are bristles at the base of the bill. Forehead, slightly tinged with
brown; head on the crown, ash grey, most of the feathers having a
dusky streak on their centre, most conspicuous in the spring; on the
sides it is al-o ash grey; neck in front and on the sides, light yellowish
red, thinly marked with rather elongated triangular-shaped brownish
black spots; nape, ash grey; chin and throat, yellowish pale orange
streaked with black; breast above, light yellowish red, spotted with
triangular-shaped brownish black marks; it is paler, almost white, on
tin1 sides, with larger and broader rounded spots, and below it is
white or greyish white tinged with red. Back on the upper part, fine
dark chesnut brown, on the lower part shaded into bluish grey, conspicuous
in flight, whence some of the vernacular names of the species.
The wings, when closed, reach to about the middle of the tail; they
expand to the width of one foot five inches and a quarter to one foot
six; greater wing coverts, reddish brown, edged with a paler shade of
grey; lesser wing coverts, reddish brown; primaries, greyish black,
margined and tipped with pale grey; the first quill feather is extremely
small and narrow, the third the longest, the fourth the next, and
scarcely longer than the second, which is a little longer than the fifth;
the shafts are black; underneath, these feathers are dark slate grey;
secondaries, greyish black, the greater part of the outer webs paler
brown; greater and lesser under wing coverts, white, plainly shewing
when the bird is on the wing. The tail, which is of a deep greyish
FIELDFARE 49
black, the side feathers greyish towards the end. is long and nearly
even, the feathers narrow; underneath, it is dark slate grey; upper
tail coverts, ash grey; under tail coverts, white, marked on either side
with dusky blots. Legs and toes, dusky brown; claws, blackish brown.
The female closely resembles the male, but is scarcely so large, and
rather slighter in shape. Length, ten inches and a half; the bill is
darker; the head is more tinged with brown; the throat is paler; the
back is less clear in colour, and its lower part is yellowish grey. The
wings expand to the width of one foot four inches and a half. The
legs and toes are paler than in the male bird.
The young, after the autumn, nearly resemble their parents, but
the head is of a less pure blue grey, and the dusky streaks on the
crown are larger; the neck in front, and the throat and breast on
the upper part, are of a brighter yellowish red, and the sides have
the spotted feathers with a patch of white inside the brown mark
between it and the light-coloured border. The back, on its lower part,
is of a duller blue grey; the greater and lesser under wing coverts
also are frequently marked with dusky.
Slight differences as to size and colouring are sometimes observable
in this species, and white individuals have occasionally been met with,
i he Revs. Andrew and Henry Mathews, in their 'Catalogue of the
Birds of Oxfordshire and its Neighbourhood,' published in the
'Zoologist,' mention one they possess in which the head and neck are
pure white. Mr. Joseph Duff, of Bishops Auckland, mentions also in
the same magazine, page 2o8(J, one in which the fifth, sixth, and seventh
quill feathers in each wing were white, the greater coverts white,
the scapulars white, the lower part of the back cloudy white, the s i x
middle tail feathers white, with a dark brown bar across the end, and
the rest of the tail feathers tipped with white. A variegated one, nearly
white, was shot at Hickling, in Norfolk, in 18 IS. Bewick mentions
another, of which the head and neck were yellowish white, the rest
of the bodv nearly of the same colour, mixed with a few brown feathers;
the spots on the breast were faint and indistinct, the quill feathers
perfectly white, except one or two on each side, which were brown;
the tail was marked in a similar manner. Sir William Jardine too
observes that the bird is sometimes found with the whole colours of
a paler tint, but still keeping their general distribution; and varieties
with the head, or bead and neck white, or pale grey, are mentioned
by Dr. Latham.
VOL. 111. II