clear, loud, wild, desultory carol o f the Redwing might be heard throughout the whole night, which was now
as light as day. Of all the northern songsters, perhaps the Redwing stands 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 o f a fir in the ‘ silence of twilight’s contemplative hour,’ or more
often in the still hour o f midnight, when all else in nature is a t rest. As soon as the breeding-season commences,
the beautiful song ceases, and is changed into a kind o f call, ‘ twee-twee-lioee-twee-tioeet,’ ending with
a little trill.” (* Spring and Summer in Lapland,’ pp. 120 & 283.)
“ In our long rambles through the boundless forest-scenery o f 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 o f 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 o f 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 o f more southern skies, its clear sweet song would occasionally charm us during the hours of
night, if the two or three delightful hours o f twilight which succeed the long day o f a Norwegian summer
can be called night. The birds, like the other inhabitants o f 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 bush. It is similar to those of
the Blackbird, Fieldfare, and Ring Ouzel. Outwardly it is formed of moss, roots, and dry g ra s s ; 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 birch-tree, and that stunted to a dwarf, weather-beaten shrub, the Redwing
builds among its branches, frequently supporting the nest upon those which dverhang rocky ground.
Sometimes the nest is placed at the base o f the tree’s trunk, and often upon a bare ledge o f rock, like that
of the Ring Ouzel, which frequents similar desert wilds. The Redwing is the only Thrush in Iceland.’ It
breeds in single p airs: on the south of the island, the eggs are laid at the beginning o f June, and about ten
days later on the north sid e; they are usually four or five in number, and sometimes, though rarely, s ix ;
they are generally somewhat smaller than those o f the Fieldfare, but a t times do not differ from the eggs
of that species. They also closely resemble the eggs o f the Blackbird and Ring Ouzel; indeed, we have no
genus of birds in which the eggs o f several species are so much alike.
“ M r. Wolley states that a t Muonioniska, in Tornea Lapmark, the Redwing ‘ makes its nest near the
ground, in an open part o f the wood, generally in the outskirts, on a stump of a log or the roots o f a fallen
tree, sometimes amongst a cluster of young stems o f 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 o r coarse p art 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 o f fine grass o f 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 I found one nest entirely covered with i t ; while fresh, and the fine ramifications o f the lichen were
unbroken, it had a most beautiful appearance. The nest o f the Redwing can generally be distinguished
from that of the Fieldfare by the much smaller quantity o f plaster used in its construction, none o f which
is visible until the nest is pulled to pieces; it is therefore relatively lighter, besides being o f smaller size;
The birds appear to be somewhat irregular in their time o f breeding. O f those nests which I saw near
Muonioniska, on the 13th o f June, one contained three young and two eggs, another five small eggs
recently laid, and which perhaps belonged to a last year’s b ird ; the third contained four nearly hatched.
On the 8th of July, I saw a t 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
o f 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 o f 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 tab le ; and on the Continent it is still more sought after with this view.
The Plate represents a male, the size o f life, in the plumage of early spring, on a branch o f the Buckthorn
(Rhamnus catharticus).