INSESSORES. 33 



England ; and yet I have little doubt but that each 

 of them has heard exactly the same note, the only 

 difference being that Mr. Matthews calls it " a song," 

 and his opponents say, " it is no song ; it is merely 

 a clear, loud, and prolonged twittering, and very 

 different from the real song of the Redwing, which 

 the bird only utters in the breeding season during the 

 months it is absent from England." In numerous 

 instances I have approached very close to Redwings, 

 and with a good glass watched them with open bills 

 and distended throats, uttering the peculiar note to 

 which I have alluded, and which is the same, I 

 believe, to which Mr. Matthews refers. I think it 

 is best expressed by the word " twittering." I have 

 never heard a Redwing utter any other sound than 

 this prolonged and really musical twittering, except 

 the call-note, which is harsh and not unlike that of 

 the Fieldfare. The conclusion, therefore, at which 

 I arrive is this : if it be granted that this pecu- 

 liar " twittering " is worthy to be called a song, and 

 moreover that this is the only song which the Red- 

 wing has, then assuredly the Redwing does sing in 

 England. But if, on the other hand, it be said that 

 this " twittering " is not a song, and that the bird 

 has another and a different note, which is as much 

 a song as that of the Thrush, but is uttered only 

 in the breeding season, then we must conclude that 

 the Redwing does not sing in England, and that, if 

 the bird has been heard to sing its breeding-song 



