BIRDS 1. Missel or Mistletoe Thrush. Turdui viscivorus, Linn. Locally, Stormcock. Common and resident, though to a certain extent a migrant in spring and autumn ; breeds as early as March, usually raising two broods in a season. Morton (17 12) adds the local name 'sprite,' a name I have not heard. 2. Song-Thrush. Turdui musicus, Linn. Locally, Mavish. Very common and resident, though the individuals with us in winter are probably not those which breed with us, as the bird is only a summer visitor to Norway, and a win- ter visitor to northern Africa, and doubtless migratory everywhere between these points. Breeds early, often in March, in bushes and hedges, and is ' double-brooded.' Very use- ful in gardens on account of its fondness for snails, etc. 3. Redwing. Turdus iliacus, Linn. A common winter visitor ; breeding in colonies in low bushes, or almost on the ground, in Iceland and arctic Europe, reach- ing us about the end of September and stay- ing till early April ; sometimes goes as far south in severe weather as north Africa. No local name that I have heard. 4. Fieldfare. Turdus pilaris, Linn. Locally, Felt or Pigeon-Felt. A common winter visitor, bolder and more often seen and heard than the last species (though probably not much more abundant), reaching us about the first week in October and staying till mid-April, or occasionally the beginning of May. It breeds usually in forks of birch trees in arctic Europe, and wanders in winter to the Medi- terranean shores of Europe, occasionally visit- ing north Africa. There is no proof that this bird, or the last, has ever nested in Britain. 5. Blackbird. Turdus meru/a, Linn. Common and resident, which does not pre- vent its being a migratory bird, as in the case of the thrush. Breeds rather later than that bird, also raising two broods ; like all black birds, is liable to albinism, and yellow-coloured varieties are sometimes met with. As a proof of its migratory habits in Britain, I may men- tion a cock blackbird with a white head, which visited for two years a wood in North- umberland of which I had the shooting ; it was always visible from spring to autumn, raised two broods of young birds more or less resembling itself, and after September van- ished till next spring. A fine songster, but very tiresome in the fruit season, and less use- ful to the gardener than the thrush ; Lord Lilford (i. 98) has never observed it cracking snails on a stone as the thrush does, nor have I. 6. Ring-Ousel. Turdus torquatus, Linn. A regular migrant, passing through our county in spring and autumn on its way to and from the moors where' it breeds (down to Wales and Derbyshire, and even in the wilder mountainous parts of the south-west) to the south. I have not uncommonly seen it when partridge-shooting, usually near high hedges ; it is more commonly seen, as far as my ex- perience goes, in mid-Northants (near Ir- chester) than in the eastern part of the county. Morton reports it to have bred near Clipston, which Lord Lilford properly dis- credits. Nests on the ground, breeds in arctic regions as well as the mountainous parts of central and even southern Europe (Pyrenees), going southwards in winter to Egypt and north Africa. 7. VVheatear. Saxicola cenanthe (Linn.). A spring and autumn migrant, appearing about the beginning of March and beginning of September. Used to breed not uncom- monly on our heaths, but is almost extinct with us as a breeding bird, on account ot the gradual cultivation of its breeding grounds. I saw a brood of young birds, barely able to fly, with their parents beside an old quarry near Thornhaugh in 1893, where they had cer- tainly bred ; but they have not bred there since ; nests are found in a crack of a wall or rock, a mouse-hole, or rabbit-burrow, and they prefer open stony country. 8. Whinchat. Pratincola rubetra (Linn.). A summer visitor, locally common, reach- ing us in mid-April, breeding on grassy banks and commons, especially railway embank- ments, leaving about the beginning of Sep- tember, though birds from further north and west may be seen with us on passage a fort- night later. 9. Stonechat. Pratincola rubicola (Linn.). A resident, though partially migratory ; not at all abundant in Northants, as it is a bird that prefers gorse commons, and breeds under whin bushes. Oftenest seen on migration across country in September. 10. Redstart. Rutici//a phcenicurus (Linn.). Locally, Firetail. A summer visitor, appearing early in April, breeding (often twice) in holes in walls, ivy, or decayed trees, leaving us early in Septem- ber. Its breeding range extends from the North Cape to Spain, and from Britain to the Yenesei. "3
