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224 BRITISH BIRDS. 
sky. The night may be a frosty one, snow lying thickly on the ground, 
and the broad-leaved laurels bending under their snowy wreaths. But just 
as evening merges into night, and the moon assumes her borrowed rays, 
the birds come in flocks from the pastures, their wings rustling in the still 
evening, and their call- and alarm-notes filling the air around with tumult. 
Down they settle on the tallest underwood, choosing the sapling trees, 
where they can best survey the vicinity ere entering the evergreens. One 
by one they quit these perching-places, or drop quickly down from the 
surrounding tree-tops, and seek their roosing-places, scattering the snow 
from the branches as they enter, which falls like bits of ice upon the crisp 
covering below. Numbers retire to the ivy, others to the yew, whilst 
many seek the gloomy sprays of the holly. Now and then one will enter 
the bush under which you are stationed, but, noticing your presence, will 
quickly seek more suitable quarters. Others come up and perch so 
silently close to your head that their presence is only revealed when one 
of them utters its cry of alarm as it takes wing, and you see the sapling 
quivering from its hasty departure. The air above is resonant with their 
plaintive whistling call-notes as the birds continue to arrive to seek a 
suitable resting-place. Almost imperceptibly they settle down to rest: their 
cries become fewer and fewer; the birds are more rarely seen; and finally the 
woods are wrapped in silence. During the night the Redwing is as much 
gregarious as in theday. Numbers seek the same bush in which to roost ; 
and you will often see them billing each other, sitting close together, and 
preening each other’s feathers, as in the pairing-season. 
The food of the Redwing, during its winter sojourn in the British Islands, 
is composed of worms, snails, beetles, various insects, and berries. The 
Redwing feeds on the open pastures, and never resorts to bushy places, or 
the ground under hedgerows and near walls, as the Song-Thrush does ; nor 
is it seen in gardens, unless on the evergreen trees and shrubs, or when 
hard pressed for food. The partiality of the Redwing for worms and insect 
food is no doubt the primary cause of its permanent residence in one certain 
neighbourhood throughout the period of its stay ; and the bird is not nearly 
so much a berry feeder as is supposed. True, upon their arrival we find 
them regaling themselves on the fruit of the service-tree; but this only 
oceurs for a few weeks, and then for the most part they are only seen on 
the grass-lands. As a proof of this fact, the actions of the Redwing in 
the severe winter of 1879-80 may be adduced. The lands which they 
most love to frequent are the marshy meadows in which worms and insects 
occur so plentifully. As these marshy places began to freeze the Redwings 
were more and more confined in their feeding-range. Each little swampy 
place was searched for food, and as surely abandoned when the frost closed 
it. Manure-heaps were then visited by the distressed birds, until a heavy 
fall of snow buried these places deep beneath it. All this time the Red- 
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