The Redwing. i i 



The best staple food for this, and all other insectivorous birds, is composed 

 of stale household bread crumbled, mixed with half the quantity of preserved 

 yolk of egg, preserved ants' cocoons, and " Century Food," the mixture being 

 moistened by the addition of potatoes, boiled the day before, and passed through 

 a masher when required for use ; on this mixture with the addition of a few 

 insects, or worms, and a little fruit, I have kept Thrushes, and many other birds, 

 in perfect health for 3'ears ; grocers' currants, which are often recommended, 

 should be avoided, they have a tendency to irritate the intestines and often 

 produce diarrhoea ; thin slices of apple, over-ripe pears, sweet-water grapes, sweet 

 oranges, or ripe strawberries and currants, when in season, are as good as 

 anything. In an aviary Thrushes and many other so-called " soft-billed " birds 

 will swallow seed whole, and it seems to agree wonderfully well with them, 

 rendering their flesh firm and their plumage glossy ; but to feed a Thrush on 

 bread and hempseed alone is the height of folly, and usually results in the early 

 death of the captive. 



This, like most of the British Thrushes, has been bred in aviaries and even 

 in cages of about the size of an ordinary rabbit hutch. 



Family^ TURDID^. Subfamily— TURDIN.^. 



The Redwing. 



Turdus iliaats, EiNN. 



THIS, the smallest British Thrush, breeds from the Arctic circle through- 

 out the Palsearctic region, and winters in Western and Southern Europe 

 and Northern Africa ; it visits the Volga islands when on migration. West- 

 ward it has straggled to the Canaries and Madeira. In Asia it has wintered 

 in Persia, Turkestan and N W. India, and in Siberia as far as Lake Baikal. 



C 



