REDWING. 
23 
tlier, leaves England for countries situated still further to 
the south, whence it does not return to us before February 
or March, about which time it may again be seen in 
vast flights, travelling onwards towards its native forests 
in a north-easterly direction. 
Redwings breed in Norway and Sweden, Poland, Russia, 
and Iceland, preferring woods of the alder, or birch-tree : 
their nests are placed among thick foliage, and are said to 
be similar to that of the song thrush. Some authorities also 
state, that the eggs of the Redwing resemble those of the 
song thrush in colour and markings, although inferior in size : 
while others describe them as more like those of the missel 
thrush ; in which latter opinion we are supported by the 
British Museum, which possesses a solitary specimen, from 
which our drawing and plate were taken. 
The Redwing is said to produce two broods in the year. 
The whole of the upper plumage of the Redwing, includ¬ 
ing the wings and tail, is olive-brown: from the base of the 
beak a pale rufous-yellow band passes over the eye and ex¬ 
tends backwards towards the nape; beneath this, a dark 
streak, following the same direction, passes, as it were, 
through the eye; the cheeks are dusky, with paler shafts 
to the feathers, and are bounded below by a yellowish-white 
band, which passes from the base of the bill to the back 
of the ear-coverts; below this line is a patch of bright ru¬ 
fous on the sides of the neck, mottled with brown; all 
the under-parts, as the chin, throat, breast, belly, and vent, 
are pure white, beautifully spotted with angular and drop¬ 
shaped marks of a dark olive-brown colour. The beak is 
dusky, the basal half of the lower mandible and the corners 
of the mouth are yellow. From the base of the lower 
mandible, on each side of the throat, descends a continued 
line of spots, so dark and closely set as to form a triangular¬ 
shaped patch below the ear-coverts ; a little band of the same 
