THE REDWING. 



Turdus iliacus, Linnaeus, 

 Plate i. 



The Redwing, a winter visitor to our shores from Scandinavia and Iceland, 

 usually arrives about the middle of October, travelling in flocks, when the plaintive 

 call-note may often be heard at night as the birds pass overhead. 



Early in April it returns to its breeding quarters in Northern Europe. Accord- 

 ing to information supplied to Mr. Hewitson by Wooley, as quoted in the 4th 

 Edition of Yarrell (p. 269) by Professor Newton, it " makes its nest near the ground, 

 in an open part of the wood, generally in the outskirts, on a stump, a log, or the 

 roots of a fallen tree, sometimes amongst a cluster of young stems of the birch, 

 usually quite exposed, so as almost to seem as if placed so purposely, the walls 

 often supported only by their foundation. The first or coarse part of their nest is 

 made for the most part of dried bents, sometimes with fine twigs and moss ; this 

 is lined with a layer of dirt, and then is added a thick bed of fine grass of the 

 previous year, compactly woven together, which completes the structure." 



The eggs, usually six in number, are very like those of the Blackbird, but 

 smaller. The ground colour is pale green, closely marked with reddish-brown. 

 While with us the Redwings remain in flocks, and being more dependent on a diet 

 of worms and grubs, than on berries, are among the first to suffer from a severe 

 spell of frost and snow. The Redwing haunts the open fields and meadows during 

 the day, roosting by night among evergreen shrubs and trees. The full clear song 

 is only heard in its summer haunts, but Mr. J. G. Millais has kindly given me the 

 following note of its song in this country : " Before leaving us in the middle of 

 April, male Redwings assemble in parties of ten to fifty and indulge in a chorus 

 of song so subdued that it is not heard unless the observer is close at hand." 



The Redwing is rather smaller than the Song-Thrush, and may be readily 

 distinguished from it, by the conspicuous light streak along the side of the head 

 above the eye, and by the chestnut-red patch on the flanks, this colour being 

 repeated on the underwing coverts and axillaries. 



The female is a little duller in colour than the male. 



