THE REDWING. 227 
bluish green, thickly marbled over the entire surface with greenish 
brown. Some specimens have the spots dispersed in irregular streaks and 
blotches, like miniature Blackbird’s eggs ; in others the ground-colour is 
almost clear, except at the large end of the egg, where a zone is formed of 
confluent brown spots ; whilst others are almost clear pea-green devoid of 
all markings. They vary but little in size or shape, and are never large 
enough to be mistaken for small specimens of the other eggs of this group 
of birds, which they resemble in colour. They vary in length from 1:1 to 
0°9 inch, and in breadth from 0°8 to 0°7 inch. Song-Thrush’s eggs are 
often found as small ; but their peculiar tints prevent the slightest con- 
fusion. As is the case with the Song-Thrush, the Redwing exhibits the 
greatest anxiety when its nest is approached, especially should it contain 
young birds. Throughout the whole laying- and hatching-season the 
Redwing continues in full song; his warbling strains are heard con- 
stantly and from all parts of his haunts; at all hours his melody floats 
on the air, as though he were loth to lose a moment of the short sunny 
Siberian summer. 
The upper parts of the Redwing are olive-brown in colour, with a very 
conspicuous pale eye-stripe extending to the nape. The underparts are pale 
buff, shading into almost white on the belly, and into rich chestnut on the 
flanks and under wing-coverts, and are spotted with dark brown. The bill is 
dark brown, the legs pale, and the irides brown. Young birds are spotted 
on both upper and underparts, and after the autumn moult have the pale 
tips to the wing-coverts larger and more clearly defined. The breeding- 
plumage of the Redwing is lighter than its autumn dress, and the under- 
parts and eye-stripe whiter, and the spots have attained greater definition. 
The Redwing has no very near ally. 
Q2 
