ICELAND RED-WINGED THRUSH 3 



farther north. Ground sites among rocks and scrub are also typical 

 in Iceland. The Iceland form will also nest on buildings and has 

 established itself as a regular breeder in the town of Reykjavik. The 

 nest is of typical thrush type, built of dry grasses, bents, and fine 

 twigs, lined with a thin but hard layer of mud, which is covered by 

 an inner lining of grass. 



Eggs. — The eggs have a greenish ground finely mottled with red- 

 dish brown. They are, in fact, extremely like very small eggs of the 

 European blackbird. Jourdain (1938, vol. 2) gives the following 

 measurements based on 116 eggs of the typical form: Average, 25.8 

 by 19.2 mm.; maximum, 29.5 by 20.3 and 27.6 by 20.6 mm.; minimum, 

 21.9 by 18.5 and 24.6 by 17.5 mm. His figures for the Iceland race 

 are: Average of 38 eggs, 26.0 by 19.4 mm.; maximum, 29 by 19.2 and 

 26 by 21 mm. ; minimum, 23.5 by 19.5 and 25.2 by 18 mm. In Europe 

 the usual clutch is five or six, but two, three, four, and seven are all 

 recorded. In Iceland the usual number is four to six, but there are 

 records of three and seven. In Europe most eggs are laid in June 

 and July, but some in the latter half of May, while in Iceland they 

 are found from mid-May onward, though also in June and July 

 (Jourdain). 



Young. — According to Jourdain, incubation by birds of the typical 

 race may begin with the first egg or the last but one. In the case of 

 the Iceland race it has been stated to begin with the third (G. Timmer- 

 mann, 1934). The period has been given as about 13 days for the 

 typical form and 14-15 days for the Iceland one, but more data are 

 needed ; there is no reason to suppose that there is really any difference 

 between the two. The male appears to take some real share in the 

 task of incubation, but here again fuller observation is needed. A. H. 

 Daukes (1932), observing a pair that bred in Scotland, "noticed 

 that both birds incubated, although there did not appear to be any 

 definite period when the cock took over from the hen," and Timmer- 

 mann has stated that in Iceland the hen is relieved by the cock at 

 midday in the earlier stages only. The fledgling period is given as 

 about 12-14 days for musicus and 11-14 days for coburni. The latter 

 is on the authority of B. Hantzsch, whose "Beitrag zur Kenntnis der 

 Vogelwelt Islands" (1905) is still one of the chief sources of informa- 

 tion on Icelandic ornithology. Both sexes feed the young, and 

 Timmermann states of the Iceland race that the feces are regularly 

 swallowed by the parents after feeding. The species is double- 

 brooded in Europe and probably at times in Iceland. 



Plumages. — The plumages are fully described by H. F. Witherby 

 (1938, vol. 2) in the "Handbook of British Birds." In the nestling 

 the fawn-colored down is distributed on the inner supraorbital, occip- 

 ital, spinal, humeral, and ulnar tracts, and is long and plentiful on all 



