An unwonted note strikes our ears, a sort of “chack” or “chick,” and looking round we see that it proceeds from a flock of ten or a dozen birds flying on a straight course high in the air, with quick and regular wing-beats. At first sight they appear like Missel Thrushes, but their flight is less erratic, and their unmistakable note tells us that the last of our migrant Thrushes has arrived to spend the winter with us. Like the Redwing, the Fieldfare is emphatically a bird of the North, although, as he always nests in trees, he does not touch high latitudes, like the Redwing, being restrained in that direction by the limit of tree growth. In summer the woods of the far north form his home, and, as if he himself felt the solitude and intense stillness that reigns there, he breeds generally in small colonies of from ten to a dozen pairs. The nests are generally placed in the first fork of a birch tree, from 4 to 8 feet above the ground. The eggs closely resemble those of the Missel Thrush, but are rather smaller. The Fieldfare’s song is very feeble, and consists of an incoherent warble, varied with the “chack, chack” of his call-note. However he is not the only denizen of the woods that feels the need of companionship, as it will generally be found that a few pairs of Redwings have also nested near the colony, and their more melodious song is an added element of cheerfulness. Amid such surroundings the young Fieldfare is hatched, and is carefully tended by his parents, who supply him with worms, insects, beetles, and in fact any small living thing that they can capture. They are most bold and noisy in defence of their young, flying close round an intruder’s head, and uttering their alarm-note unceasingly. The young bird being duly fledged, leaves his nest, and in company with others of his own age wanders about the woods, feeding on insects or any fruit he can find; while his parents, to make the most of the short summer, busy themselves with the cares of a second brood. It is not until the first storms and snows of winter come that the Fieldfare leaves his summer home, though during the few weeks that have elapsed since he left the nest he may have wandered aimlessly far from his birthplace. The chill mists of autumn, however, remind him that he must move south, so reluctantly, as if clinging to the edge of winter, he finally takes flight, and we in England hear his “chack, chack” towards the end of October, his numbers being continually augmented as each fresh northerly blast drives some of his kind farther and farther south. While with us, as he is essentially a sociable bird, he attaches himself to wandering flocks of Missel Thrushes and Redwings, and among the former he may always be distinguished by his light-coloured rump, which shows up conspicuously against the darker wings and mantle. Thus he wanders the whole winter through, feeding chiefly on the hips and haws in the hedges, and probably also on worms and grubs, for he may frequently be met with in ploughed fields. At night, with much “chacking,” he goes to roost in some thick hedge, coppice, or plantation, where, in company with the Missel Thrushes, he will seek the highest branches, while the Redwing roosts in the thicker growth below. In hard weather he does not seem to suffer like the Redwing, possibly from his marked preference for berries, which even the heaviest snow does not cover. It would seem as if the long journeys which he has to take were distasteful to him, for summer is nearly with us before the last Fieldfares have left our shores, as not uncommonly they may be seen until the middle of May; or perchance he knows that the inhospitable climate, to which he resorts to breed, driven by some irresistible and incomprehensible force, will not till then afford him and his progeny the necessary sustenance. Be that as it may, we can still hear his cheery voice long after we have left winter behind us.

The sexes are alike in plumage, but the female is rather paler in colouring. The adult male in winter has the head and neck slate grey, the feathers of the crown having dark centres which are hardly noticeable at this season; mantle and scapulars deep rufous brown; wing coverts less rufous and showing traces of paler tips. Rump grey; quills and tail dark brown. Fore-neck pale yellow, streaked with dark brown on the sides; chest rufous streaked with brown; flank feathers dark brown with broad white margins concealing the darker colour. Lower breast and chest white. In summer the pale edgings to the under parts wear off, causing him to become nearly black on the flanks and lower breast, while the dark streaks on the crown become much more conspicuous. Bill horn coloured in winter, yellow in summer. Legs and feet dark brown. Total length 10 in.; wing 5·5 in. The plumage of the young bird resembles that of the adult on the back, but the head and rump are much browner; some of the feathers of the mantle have lightish centres, though the amount and extent of these varies greatly. Below it is of a uniform pale yellow, deeper on the breast, each feather having a black terminal heart-shaped spot.

This species is generally distributed throughout the British Isles from October to May; breeding throughout Scandinavia, Russia, and Siberia as far east as the Lena. It does not, as a rule, nest south of the Baltic, though there are said to be isolated colonies in the high mountain regions of Central Europe, the Alps, and the Pyrenees. Its winter migrations extend throughout the whole of Southern Europe and Asia Minor, including both sides of the Mediterranean basin.