[Three Hundred Animals Contents]
IS a well-known bird in this country. They fly in flocks, together with the redwing and starlings, and shift places according to the season of the year. They abide with us in winter, and disappear in spring, so punctually, that after that time not one is to be seen. The flesh is esteemed a great delicacy. Some authors give us a description of their nest; whilst, on the contrary, some others assure us, that no man ever saw them build and breed in Great Britain. The head is ash-coloured, and spotted with black; the back and coverts of the wings of a deep chesnut colour; the rump cinereous; and the tail black, except the lower part of the two middle feathers, which are ash-coloured, and the upper sides of the exterior feathers which are white.
