The Song Thrush. " 



a little fmit, I have kept Thrushes, and many other birds, in perfect health 

 for years; grocers' currants, which are often recommended, should be avoided, 

 they have a tendency to irritate the intestines and often produce diarrhoea; 

 thin slices of apple, over-ripe pears, sweet-water grapes, sweet oranges, or 

 ripe strawberries and currants, when in season, are as good as anything. In 

 an aviary Thrushes and many other so-called " soft- billed " birds will swallow 

 seed whole, and it seems to agree wonderfully well with them, rendering 

 their flesh firm and their plumage glossy, but to feed a Thrush on bread 

 and hempseed alone is the height of folly, and usually results in the early 

 death of the captive. 



This, like most of the British Thrushes, has been bred in aviaries, and,, 

 from experiments made during the last few years, it appears that they will 

 even go to nest in comparatively small cages. 



Family— TURDIDAL. Subfamily— TURDIN^. 



The Redwing. 



Tiirdus Iliacits, — LiNN. 



THIS, the smallest British Thrush, breeds from the Arctic circle through- 

 out the Palaearctic region, and winters in Western and Southern Europe 

 and Northern Africa; it visits the Volga islands when on migration. West- 

 ward it has straggled to the Canaries and Madeira. In Asia it has wintered 

 in Persia, Turkestan and N.W. India, and in Siberia as far as Lake Baikal. 

 Mr. Seebohm found it in the valley of the Petchora as far North as latitude 

 68°, he observes: — "The Redwing frequents the birch region and the upper 

 zone of the pine region, occurring in limited numbers South of the Arctic 

 circle in many places where these trees are found, in South Norway and 

 Sweden, and on the Russian shores of the Baltic. It is the most northerly 



