66 BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 



wings appear much less inclined to feed on berries 

 than most of the other species of this genus. I have 

 generally found them, on their first arrival, in some 

 hawthorn bushes, and have often watched them 

 feeding greedily on the berries : there were generally 

 also a few Song Thrushes and a stray Blackbird or 

 two : an occasional Missel Thrush would come and 

 bustle about, making everything else uncomfortable 

 for a short time ; but the number of Redwings by 

 far exceeded that of all the others put together. 



The food of the Redwing also consists of slugs, 

 beetles and their larvse. 



In its summer residence the Redwing is said, by 

 those who have heard it, to be a beautiful songster, 

 so much so as not only to have obtained the name 

 of the " Nightingale of Norway," but also to well 

 deserve the name ;* but the question whether it ever 

 sings in England has given rise to considerable dis- 

 cussion among Ornithologists, some asserting that 

 they have not only heard it sing, but killed it in the 

 act of singing ; so that there could be no possible 

 mistake as to the identity of the bird. The evidence 

 on the other side is, of course, merely negative 

 namely, the witness has not heard it sing. I cannot 

 myself help the subject further than by the same 



* " The Redwing is called the Nightingale of Norway, 

 and well it deserves the name." Notes on the Ornithology 

 of Norway, by Hewitson. 



