ICELAND RED-WINGED THRUSH 7 



A list of parasites recorded from the species is given by Niethammer 

 (1937). 



Fall and winter. —Something of the general habits of the red-winged 

 thrush at this period of the year has been indicated under "Behavior." 

 In spite of its breeding in the far north it is not a very hardy bird, and 

 during hard weather in its winter quarters it suffers severely. At 

 such times "weather movements" to milder regions take place, but 

 many birds remain in the frost-bound districts and many pay the 

 penalty of this deficiency in adaptation, perishing from starvation. It 

 is chiefly under stress of hard weather that redwings may be found 

 feeding on berries in the hedgerows if such are available. At other 

 times they are much less addicted to this diet than are fieldfares and 

 some other thrushes, though it is not true — as has been asserted — that 

 they never resort to it except when forced by hunger. 



Thoroughly gregarious iD its winter quarters by day, the red-winged 

 thrush is, in a sense, even more so at night, when the constituents of 

 many flocks that have been scattered over the farmlands during the 

 daytime will often gather together to roost in the shrubberies of parks 

 and large gardens or in suitable plantations and thickets. Such roosts 

 are very commonly shared with fieldfares, blackbirds, and a few song 

 thrushes. Smaller numbers roost in old, untrimmed hedgerows. 



In some of the treeless Scottish islands the winter haunts are 

 necessarily somewhat different from those of the agricultural districts 

 of England, and it is of interest that in these islands, where the Iceland 

 race occurs regularly, as well as the typical one, a distinct difference 

 in habits has been observed. Thus in Fair Isle, between Shetland and 

 Orkney, the very capable observer George Stout (Witherby et al., 

 1938), has stated that the Iceland birds tend to keep to crops, while 

 those of the typical race prefer the cliffs and bare hillsides. In the 

 Outer Hebrides, where from November to February most of the birds 

 seem to be of the Iceland race, they frequent arable grassland, heather 

 country, and rocky shores, but also the vicinity of habitations, stack- 

 yards, etc., and roost in such places as stone dikes and peat stacks 

 or in long heather and willow scrub (J. W. Campbell, Witherby et al., 

 1938). 



DISTRIBUTION 



Breeding range. — The breeding range of the typical race is described 

 as extending in Europe north to 70° in Norway, North Sweden, 

 Finland, Russia (Archangel Government), and south to Gotland in 

 the Baltic, northeast Poland, the Baltic States, and in Russia to the 

 Minsk, Chernigov, Kaluga, Tula, Ryazan, Nizhni Novgorod, Kazan, 

 Ufa, and Orenburg Governments. Also in Siberia, north to the 



