TURDUS ILIACUS, Linn.
RED-WING.
Turdus iliacus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 292 (1766); Newton, ed. Yarrell, Brit. B. i. p. 268 (1872);
Dresser, Birds of Europe, ii. p. 35, pi. 3 (1872) ; Seebohm, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. v. p. 189
(1881) ; id. Hist. Brit. B, i. p. 220 (1883) ; Lilford, Col. Fig. Brit. B. pt. 1 (1885) ; Saunders,
Man. Brit. B. p. 5 (1889) ; Sharpe, Handb. Brit. B. i. p. 259 (1894).
Turdus mauvis, Müll. Syst. Nat. Suppl. p. 141 (1776).
Turdus illas, Pallas, Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat. i. p. 456 (1811).
Sylvia iliaca, Savi, Orn. Tosc. i. p. 215 (1827).
Turdus letularum, Brehm, Yög. Deutschl. p. 386 (1831).
Turdus vinetornm, Brehm, 1. c.
Merula iliaca, Selby, Brit. Orn. i. p. 165 (1833).
Turdus gracilis, Brehm, Naumannia, 1855, p. 281.
Iliacus illas, Des Murs, Traité d’Ool. p. 293 (1860).
Hiacus minor, Des Murs, 1. c.
HylocicJila iliaca, Ridgw. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. iv. p. 322 (1882).
T. caudâ olivascenti-brunneâ : maculis gastræi triquetris : supercilio albo conspicuo : axillaribus et subalaribus
vinaceo-castaneis.
T he R ed-wing nests mostly within the Arctic Circle, from Iceland to the valley of the Yenesei.
Elsewhere throughout the Palsearctic Region it only occurs as an autumn and spring migrant,.
Becoming more and more rare towards the eastern limits of its range. Although in certain countries
the Red-wing is said to be extending its nesting-habitat to the southward, 56° N. lat. would seem to
be the southern limit of its breeding-range, so far as is known at present.
In Iceland it appears to breed plentifully. The Rev. H. H. Slater says that it was abundant
in the birch-woods (Ibis, 1886, p. 46), and Messrs. H. J. and C. E. Pearson (Ibis, 1895, p. 242)
write:—“ These birds were plentiful in all suitable localities. We saw more of them in one
day near the geysers than we had observed during the whole of three visits to Norway. All the
nests found were placed on the ground, some amongst the stems of dwarf birch, others among rocks,
although in several instances the birch bushes near were dense enough to have concealed a nest.
Most of the young birds had left the nests before the 16th of June, only one nest of young being seen
on July 3rd and one of four eggs (fresh) on July 19th.”
I t is likewise an occasional visitor to Greenland (A. O. U. Check-list N. Amer. B. p. 344). In
the Færoes it is not known to breed, but is a regular spring and autumn migrant, arriving in
April and May and repassing in September. In Mr. Dresser’s * Birds of Europe ’ a note by
Professor Collett states that it is a common bird in Norway, arriving at Christiania about the
middle of April, but preferring, in the interior, the sub-alpine region to the lowland, and
breeding numerously on the ijelds from the upper portion of the fir-region up into the birch-
region, but also in small numbers in the lower regions, as, for instance, at Smaalehnene. On