n8 



THE BIRDS OF THE WOODS 



Redbreast. 



through Mecklenburg and Pomerania, used to form a sort of boundary between 

 the territories of the two species. In Switzerland the true nightingale is 

 restricted to the southern and western cantons, but in Spain it is abundant. 



It winters in Africa and, 

 has been found as far 

 south as the Gold Coast. 

 The red- 

 breast (Eri- 

 thacus rubecida) is also 

 a forest -bird, although 

 known in perhaps every 

 garden in Europe; and in 

 the forest it is still to be 

 found where the shadow 

 of dense underwood pre- 

 vents the grass from grow- 

 ing, and where water is 

 close at hand, while on 

 migration it always shel- 

 ters among low bushes. 

 Redbreasts are not solely 

 resident birds, many of 

 them moving about a dis- 

 trict according to the 

 season, and the majority 

 being migrants in the true 

 sense ; the migration tak- 

 ing place every March 

 and September,and always 

 at night. In autumn they 

 go to southern Europe 

 and northern Africa, and 

 in the east to Asia Minor, 

 but they never nest far- 

 ther east than the Urals 

 and the Caspian. They 

 the redbreast. are found in every part of 



the British Islands, many 

 remaining in the south of England, some even in Germany ; those that stay 

 during the winter find sufficient food around the houses and farms to eke out the 

 berries, worms, and insects on which they chiefly live. Redbreasts will build 

 almost anywhere and in anything close to the ground, and, if it is not sheltered 

 from above, they sometimes give the nest a cover. It may generally be 

 recognised at a glance by the cup not being in the centre of the mass of 

 dead leaves, grass, and moss ; the lining being rootlets, hair, and feathers, and 

 occasionally a little wool. 



