36 



web edged with dark grey, the secondaries rather more so than the primaries ; tail similar to the back ; 

 a broad line from the beak passing above and behind the eye to the back of the head dull white ; region 

 below the white eyebrow and auriculars olive-brown marked with white ; throat white with brown 

 stripes on each side ; underparts white, the breast and sides marked with brown streaks, the centres of 

 the feathers being brown ; flanks and under wing-coverts rich rust-red ; under tail-coverts dull brown 

 at base, white at the tip ; bill blackish brown ; base of under mandible and edge of gape reddish 

 yellow; legs greyish flesh-colour; iris brown. Total length 7"8 inches, culmen 07, wing -A - 6, tarsus 1. 



Adult, autumn. Differs from the summer bird in being rather darker in colour, in having the lores and eye- 

 stripe tinged with rufous ; the markings on the breast and underparts larger and more extended ; the 

 primaries and upper wing-coverts edged with rufous, the inner secondaries being slightly tipped with 

 white; and the flanks and under wing-coverts much less rich in colour. 



Female. Similar to the male. 



Young. Similar to the adult, but the feathers on the back and scapulars have a pale yellowish white streak 

 down the centre ; upper wing-coverts broadly edged with rufous, and having a rufous spot at the tip ; 

 the secondaries being also tipped with whitish ; superciliary streak not so large or clearly defined as in 

 the adult ; underparts dull white, profusely spotted on the breast with dark brown, and having a 

 yellowish tinge on the fore part of the breast; flanks dull rufous with an olive tinge ; under wing-coverts 

 rufous ; under tail-coverts dirty white. 



The Redwing inhabits during the summer season the far north, but so soon as the cold weather 

 sets in migrates southward, spreading over the whole of Europe, returning again to its northern 

 haunts in the spring. It has been met with as far west as Greenland, where, according to 

 Professor Reinhardt, it has twice occurred. 



In the IJritish islands the Redwing is found in the winter season, arriving late in October 

 and leaving again for the north as the fine weather commences, though they sometimes linger as 

 laic as May or even .June. It is not a strong bird; and, according to Professor Newton, it is 

 the first to suffer from the inclement weather, and "during some severe seasons, such as 1799, 

 1814, 1822, and the winters of 1838-39 and 1860-61, hundreds have been found almost starved, 

 alike unable to prosecute their journey further south to more genial climates, or to bear the 

 rigour of this." It has been stated to have bred in Great Britain ; but Professor Newton regards 

 these statements with doubt ; the best-authenticated of these is that mentioned by Dr. Saxby, 

 wlio says (Zool. p. 7427) that in May 1855, at Maintwrog, in North Wales, he found a 

 Redwing's nest with four eggs, upon which he repeatedly saw the bird. In Scotland, according 

 to Mr. It. Gray, "this species of Thrush is later in arriving on the west than on the opposite 

 coast of Scotland. On their arrival from Norway and other countries, where they breed, they fly 

 in considerable flocks, remaining, however, only a few days on the sea-coast to recruit before 

 r iinnencing their inland journey. On the Haddingtonshire coast I have seen numbers coming 

 in from the sea in company with Fieldfares, and settling on the low-lying fields near the beach. 

 At an early hour one morning in the month of October I recollect seeing quite a swarm of these 

 two species covering the links at Dunbar. They were apparently fatigued, and permitted a very 

 near approach, merely hopping out of the way a little as I walked forward. In Western Scotland 

 the flocks are not so large, consisting for the most part of a dozen or fifteen birds. These betake 



