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.] THE REDWING.