JO ' British Birds. 



birds apart, though they are otherwise very much ahke in size and general 

 appearance. The Redwing is a common winter visitor to every part of Great 

 Britain and at that season of the year is distributed over the greater portion of 

 Central and Southern Europe. It breeds from Iceland and Scandinavia to the 

 valley of the Yenesei in Siberia, and is, in northern Norway at least, a difficult 

 species to observe during the nesting-season. In 1896 I could not see anything ■ 

 of the Redwing at 3500 feet in Sundalen, but in 1S97 the young were observed 

 in many parts of the birch-forests, and I caught several. During the period of 

 incubation the birds were very silent, and the song of the male was not often 

 heard, but when the young were hatched both parents were very vociferous, 

 when the neighbourhood of their nest was approached, and came quite close when 

 they perceived their young ones to be in danger. The nest is like that of the Black- 

 bird and Ring-Ouzel, but is smaller, and is neatly constructed of grass, moss, and 

 mud, lined with finer grass. The eggs are from four to si.x in number, bluish- 

 green with reddish spots and blotches, and are distmguished by their small size. 

 The Redwing suffers greatly in severe winter weather, and numbers perish 

 during a prolonged frost. 



The Song-Thrush [see Frontispiece) is one of the smaller 



" species of Tiirdidir and is the most plentiful of all the Thrushes 



SONG-THRUSH. . „ . tj ■. ■ 1 ■ r .• • 1 1 1 -^ ^A 1 o' • 



of Great Britam, bemg distmguished bv its golden-butt wing- 

 [Turdns miisicus.) ' c & . & o 



lining. It breeds everywhere throughout our islands, and a 

 considerable number migrate south in winter, when thousands are caught during 

 passage on the continent. It nests throughout the greater part of Europe to the 

 Yenesei, but in southern Europe is only found breeding in the mountains. 



The beauty of the Thrush's song renders the bird an universal favourite, 

 excepting with those who cannot brook the inroads it makes upon fruit-gardens at 

 certain times of the year. It nests very early in the year, if the season be mild, and 

 the eggs are among the most beautiful of an}' of our British birds, being of a clear 

 blue with black or purplish-brown spots. The nest is remarkable for the way in 

 which the cavity is lined with powdered wood, said to be moulded by the bodies of 

 the birds, until it presents a perfectly smooth surface; it thus difi'ers in plan and 

 finish from the nest of the Blackbird. Besides devouring a great number of worms, 

 the Song-Thrush feeds largely on snails, the debris of which can often be found in 

 the places where the birds have broken them against a stone. 



This is the largest of our resident Thrushes, and is a very 



'^^^ handsome species, with a number of boldly marked fan-shaped 



MISTLE-THRUSH. r ■., , ., , r c ^u ^ a tu 



. . spots of black on the under surface oi the body. 1 he 



{Turdus viscivorus.) 



axillaries and under wing-coverts of the Mistle-Thrush are 



white, and this character will generally serve to distinguish the species on the wing. 



as the Song-Thrush and Redwing, which alone among the British Thrushes could 



be mistaken for it, always show in flight the golden-buff or chestnut colour of their 



