362 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



trained ear recognizes the note instantly, but usually it is 

 recorded as that of a commonplace bird, an obvious migrant, 

 engaged in its normal journeyings. 



Eedwings roost in company, generally in association with 

 Starlings, and the note is commonly heard as the birds come in 

 for the night. It is a shrill " seep," audible from a great 

 distance, but perhaps the call most often heard through the day 

 is a soft "chup" or "yup" that has no sibilant quality. I 

 think the latter note is confined to the female, but here my 

 observations are not so numerous as I should wish. After many 

 hours spent in watching the birds I am in no position to inter- 

 pret either the "seep" or the "chup," and do not know their 

 meanings ; they may be notes of alarm, or signals, or perhaps 

 exclamations of no import whatever. Occasionally the Eedwing 

 uses a harsh chuckle that is almost as loud as the well-known 

 alarm of the Blackbird ; this appears to be a true alarm-note. 

 I might add that the Eedwing sings regularly and frequently 

 during its stay in England. I hear the song often, for it is a 

 conspicuous sound of fine days in autumn and spring (c/. ' Lanca- 

 shire Naturalist,' ii. pp. 39-41). 



During the night the "seep" alone is used. In the fields 

 there is no part of the twenty-four hours when we may not hear 

 the call, but in places where the Eedwing is never seen, as in 

 the heart of London and other large towns, or over wide peat- 

 moors or over the sea, the sound is confined to the hours of 

 darkness. It is most frequently heard on fine still dark nights, 

 but I have remarked it in bright moonlight, fog, drizzling and 

 heavy rain, snow, and hard frost. We do not often hear it in 

 boisterous weather, and perhaps the Eedwing does not fly on 

 such nights. 



Three years ago Mr. H. B. Booth described ('Naturalist,' 

 1908, pp. 17-18 ; and also 1909, p. 78) an " Extraordinary Im- 

 migration of Eedwings " in Yorkshire. The note is both valuable 

 and interesting, but if I read the facts aright the movement 

 should not be termed extraordinary, for it is a normal pheno- 

 menon, and one that we have been observing for many years in 

 Lancashire (c/. ' Eeport Oldham Micros. Soc. and Field Club,' 

 1903-4, p. 25). Mr. Booth does not give his reasons for be- 

 lieving the movement to be migratory. (I trust the reader will 



