296 INIr. D. A. Bannerraan ow the [Ibis, 



Bolle (J. f. O. 1854, p. 453) records the great arrival of 

 Song-Thrushes {'' Turdus musicns^') in the winters of 

 1828-1830 to the Canary Islands ; hut in the J. f. 0. 1857, 

 p. 277, under the heading- " Turdus iliacns " he quotes 

 Webb and Berthelot's account of the arrival of Redwings, 

 and notes, moreover, that Berthelot told him (Bolle) "that 

 the Redwing was even more frequent than the Song- 

 Thrush." 



Against this we must remember that, although Bolle" 

 confirms the great swarms of Redwings in 1828 and 1832, 

 vet he liimself was not in the islands then ; and, further, 

 he remarks: "In ordinary years the number [of Redwings] 

 cannot be very great, for during two winters in Santa Cruz 

 I never saw a single specimen" (J. f. O. 1857, p. 277). 



The next author to mention the Redwing is Cabrera, who 

 notes (Catalogo, p. 46) that " T. iliacus " is a regular bird 

 of passage ("De paso periodico) fairly abundant in certain 

 years, met with as much on the coasts as in the mountains 

 of Tenerife. He had specimens in his own collection. 

 According to Cabrera, this bird is also cited by Serra, whose 

 work I have not consulted. 



Polatzek in his list (Orn. Jahrb. 1909, p. 125) includes 

 the Redwing as "a regular and frequent migrant,'^ and 

 places the species amongst the birds which have been 

 verified without a doubt. It is more than probable that 

 he had himself met with the species and had obtained 

 examples, but I cannot agree with his statement that it 

 is " a regular and frequent migrant." Polatzek probably 

 based his remarks on former writers who had blindly 

 followed Webb and Berthelot, and the fact that he obtained 

 specimens himself (which apparently he must have done) 

 would lend colour to the older writings which he consulted. 



Neither Meade-Waldo, von Thanner, nor myself have ever 

 come across it, which in the case of von Thanner is most 

 strange as he has lived a considerable time in Tenerife. 



Range. The Redwing breeds in north Europe and winters 

 in south Europe, and also in north-west Africa — where, 

 however, it is rare. 



