IN CONFINEMENT. 223 



found in a starving condition. On such occasions they settle about 

 springs and brooks, and are easily destroyed. The flocks of Redwings 

 often mingle with Fieldfares and Missel Thrushes. They fly in a 

 rapid and slightly undulated manner, usually at a considerable height. 



The ordinary note of this bird is a rather harsh scream. Mr. Slaney 

 says it resembles "a sort of inward deep-drawn sigh, like an attempt 

 at ventriloquism." In fine weather, it may be heard, when perched 

 on the topmost branches of a tree, singing a subdued and murmuring 

 kind of song that is rather pleasing. With us, however, it does not 

 appear to exert its full powers, for Linnaeus in his "Tour in Lapland/' 

 says "the amorous warblings of the Redwing from the top of the 

 spruce fir were delightful. Its high and varied notes rival those of 

 the Nightingale herself." Other naturalists describe its song as loud, 

 sweet, clear, musical, and at the same time delightfully wild. 



The nest is said to be placed in a birch, alder, or other tree, or in 

 a thorn or other bush. It is very similar to that of the Fieldfare, 

 being composed of moss, roots, and dry grass, cemented together with 

 clay, and lined with finer grass. The eggs, which are laid in June, 

 are about six in number, of a pale bluish green, spotted with reddish 

 brown. In a few instances the Redwing has been known to breed in 

 Britain; a nest was taken near Barnet, in Middlesex, and another 

 near Godalming, in Surrey. In 1836, a nest containing four eggs, 

 was found at Kildare, in Cleveland. 



IN CONFINEMENT. 



OUE readers are not likely to obtain a live specimen of the Rose- 

 coloured Pastor, but it may interest them to know that it has been 

 kept alive in confinement for several years. Bechstein tells us that in 

 1774 M. Yon Wachter, a German clergyman, having obtained one that 

 had been slightly wounded, placed it in a spacious cage, and fed it on 

 barley-meal moistened with milk. It soon recovered from its injuries, 

 and rewarded its preserver by exhibiting great tameness and affection, 

 and singing very sweetly. "A connoisseur who had not discovered 

 the bird, but heard its voice, thought he was listening to a concert 

 of two Starlings, two Goldfinches, and perhaps a Siskin; and when he 

 saw that it was a single bird, he could not conceive how all this 

 music proceeded from the same throat." In the summer of 1837 or 



