16 THE EEDWING. 



very great. Each little nook of shelter in the deep ravines 

 that communicate with the sea-side bore witness to it ; the 

 retired baylets and crannies of the rocks were scattered over 

 with decayed feathered skeletons and along the Coldingham 

 Sands their remains were frequently to be seen." ^ 



The terrible severity of the winters of 1878-79, 1879-80, 

 and 1880-81, of which some account has been given in the 

 article on the Missel Thrush, destroyed great numbers of 

 Kedwings in Berwickshire ; their remains being found in 

 sheltered places, such as by the sides of hedges and dykes, 

 and in deans, after the snow had disappeared. 



This bird appears to be more tender than the Fieldfare 

 or Missel Thrush, as it is generally the first which suffers 

 when severe weather occurs, and 



The cherisli'd fields 

 Put on their winter-robe of purest white. 



Thomson, Wlntej: 



Its call-note is rather harsh, but its song is described by 

 Linnaeus in the account of his tour in Lapland as " delight- 

 ful," and Mr. Hewitson says : " In our long rambles through 

 the boundless forest scenery of Norway, or during our visits 

 to some of its thousand isles, whether by night or by day, 

 the loud, wild, and most delicious song of the Redwing 

 seldom failed to cheer us." ^ 



The food of this Thrush consists chiefly of worms, snails, 

 and insects, and it also eats berries of various kinds. I 

 have seen it greedily devouring rowans when they were 

 ripe. When disturbed from its feeding-ground, the Red- 

 wing, like the Fieldfare and Missel Thrush, usually flies 

 to the topmost branches of the nearest trees, the high elms 

 above the Primrose Bank being one of its favourite resorts 

 in the neighbourhood of Paxton, during the autumn months. 



1 Hist. Ber. Nat. Club, vol. v. pp. 232, 233. 

 " Hewitson, Ji!ggs of British Birds, vol. i. p. 87. 



