6 REDWING. 
have been obtained in Jan Mayen and Greenland. The bird nests 
freely in Norway, Sweden, and the northern part of Russia ; 
sparingly in East Russia, and perhaps in Poland, Austrian Galizia, 
and even Anhalt, near the Hartz Mountains; while eastward the 
breeding-range extends across Siberia to the Yenesei. In winter 
the Redwing reaches Madeira, the Canaries, North Africa, and Asia 
as far south as North-western India and eastward to Lake Baikal. 
Owing to the Gulf stream the climate is comparatively warm in 
Norway, and there the Redwing sometimes breeds early in May, but 
elsewhere later. In the forest-region the nest is placed on bushes 
or low trees, and a colony of Fieldfares will frequently have a nest 
or two of Redwings on the outskirts; but in the barren districts, 
sloping banks, hollows between stones, and low fences are selected. 
The structure is composed of twigs and earth, lined with dried 
grasses, and is frequently ornamented externally with lichens, 
especially reindeer-moss. The eggs, generally 6, are of a peculiar 
and evanescent green, closely streaked with reddish-brown, resem- 
bling small varieties of the eggs of the Blackbird, but without the 
bold markings of those of the Fieldfare: measurements ‘98 in. by 
‘75 in. Two broods are frequently reared in the season. The 
parents show great anxiety when the nest with young is approached, 
snapping their bills angrily as they flutter round the head of the 
intruder. The song, which has been unduly eulogized, consists of 
several clear flute-like notes which may be syllabled as crud, ¢rud, 
trui, tritritrt; the call is see-tow. The food consists of insects, 
small snails, and berries, but the Redwing seems to be less partial 
to the last than are its congeners. Its flight is remarkably rapid. 
The adult male has the upper parts olive-brown ; wing-feathers 
rather darker, with paler edges; a broad whitish streak over the 
eye; under parts dull white, closely streaked with dark brown 
on the throat, breast, and part of the flanks, the inner portion of 
the last being of a rich chestnut-red ; under wing and axillaries 
somewhat paler ; bill dark brown above, lighter at the lower base ; 
legs pale brown. Length 8°75; wing 4°4 in. The female has the 
plumage slightly duller than the male. The young bird is spotted 
on both upper and under parts, and, after the first autumn moult, 
it has well-defined pale tips to the wing-coverts. 
