clear, loud, wild, desultory carol of the Redwing might he heard throughout the whole night, which was now 
as light as day. Of all the northern songsters, perhaps the Redwing statids first on the list, and is with 
justice called the northern Nightingale; for a sweeter song I never wish to listen to than the rich gush of 
melody it pours forth from the thick covert of a fir in the ‘ silence of twilight’s contemplative hour,’ or more 
often in the still hour of midnight, when all else in nature is at rest. As soon as the hreeding-season com- 
mences, the beautiful song ceases, and is changed into a kind of call, ‘ twee-twee-twee-twee-tweet ^ ending with 
a little trill.” (‘ Spring and Summer in Lapland,’ pp. 120 & 283.) 
“In our long rambles through the boundless forest-scenery of Norway,” says Mr. Hewitson, “ or during 
our visits to some of its thousand isles, whether by night or by day, the loud, wild, and most delicious 
song of the Redwing seldom failed to cheer us. Unlike its ally, the Fieldfare, it was solitary and shy, and 
on our approach to the tree on the top of which it was perched, would drop down and hide itself in the 
thick of the brushwood. Throughout that part of the country which we visited, it is known by the name of 
Nightingale ; and well it deserves to be so called, for a sweeter songster I have never listened to. Like the 
Nightingale of more southern skies, its clear sweet song would occasionally charm us during the hours of 
night, if the two or three delightful hours of twilight which succeed the long day of a Norwegian summer 
can he called night. The birds, like the other inhabitants of the country, seem loth to lose in sleep a 
portion of this delicious short-lived season. 
“ The nest of the Redwing, as far as I can speak from my own observation in Norway, is placed singly, 
like those of the Thrush and Blackbird, in the centre of a thorn or other thick hush. It is similar to those of 
the Blackbird, Fieldfare, and Ring Ouzel. Outwardly it is formed of moss, roots, and dry grass ; inwardly 
it is cemented with clay, and lined with finer grass. Mr. Proctor informs me that ‘ in Iceland, where there 
is scarcely any wood except the hirch-tree, and that stunted to a dwarf, weather-beaten shrub, the Redwing 
builds among its branches, frequently supporting the nest upon those which overhang rocky ground. 
Sometimes the nest is placed at the base of the tree’s trunk, and often upon a hare ledge of rock, like that 
of the Ring Ouzel, which frequents similar desert wilds. The Redwing is the only Thrush in Iceland.’ It 
breeds in single pairs ; on the south of the island, the eggs are laid at the beginning of June, and about ten 
days later on the north side ; they are usually four or five in number, and sometimes, though rarely, six ; 
they are generally somewhat smaller than those of the Fieldfare, but at times do not differ from the eggs 
of that species. They also closely resemble the eggs of the Blackbird and Ring Ouzel ; indeed, we have no 
genus of birds in which the eggs of several species are so much alike. 
“ Mr. Wolley states that at Muonloniska, in Tornea Lapmark, the Redwing ‘ makes its nest near the 
ground, in an open part of the wood, generally in the outskirts, on a stump of 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 
the nest is made of dried bents, and sometimes with fine twigs and moss ; this is lined with a thin layer of 
dirt, and then is added a thick bed of fine grass of the previous year, compactly woven together, which 
completes the structure. Outside there is often a good quantity of the kind of lichen called reindeer moss, 
and 1 found one nest entirely covered with it ; while fresh, and the fine ramifications of the lichen were 
unbroken, it had a most beautiful appearance. The nest of the Redwing can generally be distinguished 
from that of the Fieldfare by the much smaller quantity of plaster used in its construction, none of which 
is visible until the nest is pulled to pieces ; it is therefore relatively lighter, besides being of smaller size. 
The birds appear to be somewhat irregular in their time of breeding. Of those nests which I saw near 
Muonloniska, on the 13th of June, one contained three young and two eggs, another five small es^gs 
recently laid, and which perhaps belonged to a last year’s bird ; the third contained four nearly hatched. 
On the 8th of July, I saw at the same place two nests with newly laid eggs, but they might have been a 
second brood, or have belonged to birds which had been robbed of their first ; there were five eggs in each 
of these nests, and this appears to be the usual number.’ ” 
Of the eggs figured by Mr. Hewitson, one is shorter and rounder than the other, and is of a pale olive- 
green, very minutely sprinkled with light reddish brown ; the longer egg is similar as to its ground-colour, 
but has the reddish markings larger and more apparent. 
As an article of food, the Redwing is in considerable demand. Hundreds are annually killed in this 
country for the table ; and on the Continent it is still more sought after with this view. 
The Plate represents a male, the size of life, in the plumage of early spring, on a branch of the Buck- 
thorn {Tthammis eathartieus). 
