40 RURAL BIRD LIFE. 



year I often hear on some clear and starlight night 

 the yelping cries of the Redwings winning their way 

 through the still starlit air far above me in the trackless 

 heavens. The Redwing arrives in this country much 

 sooner than the Fieldfare, though both these birds inhabit 

 the same northern latitudes. This is owing to the Red- 

 wing being more sensitive to cold than the Fieldfare, and 

 numbers of these ' Swedish nightingales ' perish from 

 cold in a hard winter : food, too, is another cause for this 

 early migration. You can instantly tell the Redwing 

 from any other of the Thrush family by its small size, the 

 abundance of white on the under parts, and the yellowish 

 white streak of plumage over the eye. Upon their arri- 

 val we find the Redwing a very shy and wary bird, but 

 in a {^^ weeks' time much of this wariness disappears, 

 and they become one of the most trustful members of 

 this charming family of choristers. We find the Redwing 

 delights in the more cultivated parts of the country, fre- 

 quenting well-wooded parks, and pleasure and pasture 

 grounds. 



Redwings are perhaps more nocturnal in their habits 

 than any other British Thrush. As I wander over the 

 pastures when the shadows of night are falling, I often 

 disturb these late-feeding birds, and their now dusky 

 forms flit by me, and their peculiar cries disturb the evening 

 air as they fly rapidly off to their roosting-place. The 

 trustful familiarity of these birds is sometimes very 

 marked, notably so in keen weather. It is a pleasing 

 sight to watch a flock of Redwings when searching the 

 grass land for food. How nimbly they hop amongst the 

 frosted grass, ever in motion, occasionally taking short 

 fiif^hts or starting up to look warily around. If alarmed, 

 they fly off in small parties and take refuge on the top- 

 most branches of the neighbouring trees, and then when. 



