TURDIN^. 



THE REDWING. 



TuRDUS iLiAcus, Linnxus. 



The Redwing resembles a small Song-Thrush, but it may easily 

 be distinguished by the broad whitish streak over the eye, and by 

 the rich orange-red of the flanks and under-feathers of the wing : 

 whence the bird's trivial name. The Redwing has been obtained 

 in this country on striking against lighthouses, from the beginning 

 of August onwards, but being less numerous and less gregarious than 

 the Fieldfare its arrival is not so soon noticed. Although the most 

 delicate of the European Thrushes, the Redwing can resist a con- 

 siderable amount of frost, but should this be followed by a heavy 

 fall of snoio, such a combination of hardships proves very destruc- 

 tive. In winter, therefore, large numbers go past our shores to 

 suitable situations, as far even as the south of Europe and the north 

 of Africa, to which this species is a more abundant and regular 

 visitor than the Fieldfare. \\'estward the Redwing has straggled to 

 the Canaries and Madeira ; its winter range eastward extending to 

 the lower regions of the Caucasus, Persia, Turkestan, Northern 

 India, and Siberia as far as Lake Baikal. In the latter country its 

 breeding-range does not appear to reach much eastward of that 

 portion of the valley of the Yenesei which lies within the Arctic 

 circle; but westward it extends through Russia north of about 54"^ 

 N. lat. to Scandinavia. The nest is also said to have been found in 



