THE REDWING. 223 



theu one o£ the most trustful members of this charming family of choristers. 

 Towards the latter end of March the Redwings visibly decrease in number, 

 and as the month of April approaches they rapidly leave us for the 

 north; flock succeeds flock; and by the middle of the month few are left 

 behind. 



Redwings remain perhaps later on their feeding-grounds than any other 

 British Thrush. As you wander over their favourite pastures at nightfall, 

 when most other birds have gone to rest, you will often flush the Red- 

 wings from their evening meal. Here and there they rise from the 

 herbage, uttering their plaintive whistling note, fly quickly off, and are 

 soon lost in the gloom. If disturbed on the pastures in the daytime they 

 rise irregularly, and when in the air there is none of that uniformity or 

 precision of movement observable which is so characteristic of the Common 

 Starling. Redwings pass through the air on rapid wing, often at a con- 

 siderable elevation ; and their flight is rather undulating, being performed 

 by a series of quick flappings, with short intervals between, when the 

 wings are closed, and during which they descend a little out of the direct 

 line of flight. Sometimes, however. Redwings perform en masse the most 

 graceful evolutions in the air, almost like a flock of Starlings. This is 

 usually the case when they are disturbed from their roosting-places. They 

 wheel and manoeuvre in the air, and pass round and amongst the topmost 

 branches of the forest trees, occasionally dipping near to the earth or 

 alighting on the top of some tall tree, until the cause of the disturbance 

 vanishes, and they can seek their nightly perches in peace. As a rule, 

 except when a flock is going to roost, the Redwing is not a noisy bird ; 

 and when a whole tree-top is covered with them only one or two notes will 

 be heard. How different from a flock of Starlings or Bramblings ! who 

 seem to delight in making as much noise as possible when congregated 

 together. 



Redwings are found in the same localities year after year, and nightly 

 «eek the same places for repose. A dense and impenetrable shrubbery is 

 1 favourite roosting-place for the Redwing, sometimes for years, especially 

 .here the evergreens and tangled brushwood are so dense as to make 

 passage through them almost impossible ; and where the tall sycamore and 

 elm saplings and the gigantic forest trees whose rugged stems and limbs are 

 covered with ivy almost like a winter foliage make the place a suitable one 

 in all respects for the concealment and shelter of bird-life, in such a place 

 the timid Bullfinches pipe to each other, the Greenfinches, Chaffinches, and 

 Bramblings congregate in incredible numbers at nightfall, the Ring-Doves 

 and the Titmice are found in greatest plenty, and occasionally the Field- 

 fare, the Jay, and the Magpie are seen amongst the branches. Early in 

 the evening a few Redwings may be seen sitting quietly on the neighbour- 

 ing tree-tops, their forms coming sharply out against the clear western 



