the west side of Norway it is found commonly on the sea-coast and up northwards to the
Russian frontier. My own experience during two seasons spent in the Sundal and Groedal valleys
in Sundalen is that the altitude at which the Red-wing breeds varies according to the nature of
the season. Thus, in the late season of 1896, when the snow remained long, the Red-wing nested
in the pine-woods of the lower valleys, while none were to be seen in the birch-foreSts of the
upper fjelds; whereas in 1897, when the season was early, a number of nests were to be found in
the latter region.
“ In Russian Lapland,” writes Pleske, in his work on the Fauna of the Kola Peninsula, “ the
Red-wing is a very common object, but seems to have a somewhat local distribution. It is decidedly
a bird of the sub-alpine districts, and is only found in such localities at the sea-level or up to a
certain height.
“ Middendorff found the species common up to 68^° N. lat. in Russian Lapland, Malm in the
Kola district, and Lilljeborg at Schuretzkaja on the frozen sea. I found them to be pretty common
at Musselga station and in the neighbourhood of Kola. In the southern part of the district, Lagus
observed the species in Kunsamo, Newton in Torneä-Lappmark, and Von Wright during his Lapland
journey on Aavasaksa, at Tengeliö, and near Alkkula. At Muonioniska it is supposed to breed
plentifully in the forest region, according to Palmen,—arriving about the 8th of June and breeding
in the same month. At Karesuando, Von Wright has seen the Red-wing, and Grape at Utsjoki; and
Malm states that single examples have been observed in Enare as early as the 10th o f May. In East
Finmark the species has been found very plentifully by Leem, Collett, and other observers; and
Sommerveldt states that throughout the country the Red-wing is common in spring, summer, and
autumn; while Collett noticed these birds in large numbers between the Porsanger Fjord and the
Russian frontier.”
In Sweden it is only found in the high north during the summer, according to Nilsson, but it is
said to have nested on Gottland twice., as recorded by Pastor Holtz.
Near Archangel, Henke states that the Red-wing is a common summer visitor (Seebohm, Ibis,
1877, p. 376), and it doubtless breeds in many districts of Northern Russia, and, according to
Sabanaeff, throughout the province of Perm. Taczanowski informed Mr. Dresser that it probably
nests in the Government of Su-waki in Northern Poland, as it undoubtedly does in Eastern
Prussia in the neighbourhood of Memel. Mr. Hartert (Ibis, 1892, p. 358) writes:—“ The northernmost
part of East Prussia, near the fortress of Memel, is perhaps the only place in Germany where
this Thrush used to breed regularly; and there' is every reason to believe that it does so at the present
time. About fourteen years ago it was not very rare there, and several nests and eggs were obtained,
the latter being now almost all in the late E. von Homeyer’s collection and in my own. In a few cases
it has been found breeding in Germany out of East Prussia, but these are probably exceptions. It
passes through in enormous numbers, chiefly in October and in the first half of April, but is not
seen in winter.” Dr. Reichenow (Syst. Verz. Vög. Deutsch], p. 4) states that it has been found
nesting in the Allgäuer Alps in Bavaria; and Pässler is the authority for the nesting of the species
in Anhalt, as Count Casimir Wodzicki is for. the same in Galicia (cf. Dresser’s ‘Birds of Europe,’
ii. p. 39).
On thePetchora River, in North-eastern Russia, Seebohm and Harvie-Brown found the Red-wing
as far north as 68° N. lat. “ In the valley of the Yenesei,” writes Seebohm, “ it reached the Arctic
Circle on the 5th of June, a few days before the Fieldfare, and soon began to breed in the willows
and birches, generally nearer to the ground than the Fieldfare did. In 71° N. lat., beyond the
limit of foresf-growth, it was still common, but breeding on the ground. I took several of its nests
on the sloping banks of the tundra, a little further north than any of the five other species of
Thrushes which I found in the same valley. I never found it breeding in colonies; but sometimes,
in an unusually swampy part of the forest, where the pir.es were small and stunted, several nests
would occur at comparatively short distances from each other. In Lapland, as well as in Russia and
Siberia, I found the Red-wing commonest where the trees were small, and where open swampy ground
separated the forest into plantations. The richness of the foliage in these localities and the brilliance
and profusion of the wild flowers reminded me of an English garden run wild; and the presence of
the Red-wing and other song-birds assisted in the reminiscence, and added greatly to the charm.”
Mr. H. L. Popham says that he “ found the present species very numerous in the forests of the
Yenesei, often nesting among the large colonies of Fieldfares, hut nearly always at a lower
elevation than the latter birds.”
To the eastward of the Yenesei valley the Red-wing is scarcely known to occur. Taczanowski
(Faune Orn. Sibir. Orient, p. 314) states that Middendorff procured a single example in the environs
of Irkoutsk, the Warsaw Museum possesses a pair from Oussolje, and Eaddo killed a pair in the
valley of Koultouk on the 14th of November, 1855. It has not been seen in Kamtschatka nor in
China or Mongolia, and therefore the statement indulged in by some authors, that the range of the
Red-wing reaches from the Atlantic to the Pacific, seems to rest, up to the present time, on somewhat
foundation. Seebohm, indeed, has corrected his statement that the “ principal breeding-
range of the Red-wing is at or near the Arctic Circle throughout the Palæarctic Region ” (Hist. Brit.
B. i. p. 220), by afterwards recording it as a West Eurasian species, which does not extend beyond
110° E. long. (Address Yorkshire Nat. Union, p. 17, 1893). ■“
Przewalski only, once met with the species at Gaos in Western Zaidam, at the end of October
1884 (Pleske, Wissensch. Result. Przew. Central-Asien Reisen, Zool. ii. p. 6, 1889).
To the British Islands and to the greater part of Europe the Red-wing is principally known as a
winter visitor, though Schlegel believed that it had bred occasionally in Groningen and Noord
Holland {cf. Blaauw, Notes Leyden Mus. xv. p. 188), and it has also been said to nest in Great
Britain. Its range extends to Algeria in winter, and it is recorded as having occurred in the
Canary Islands. ~To th e . countries east of the Mediterranean it is a rare visitor, and has not been
noticed in Palestine or Egypt, hut is recorded as a somewhat sparse migrant in winter to Persia and
Turkestan. Jerdon states that the Red-wing has been found, though very rarely, in the North-west
Himalayas, and, on the authority of Lieut. Trotter, Blyth has recorded the species as a regular winter
visitant to Kohat, where it occurs in large numbers. No specimen, however, has been procured by
any naturalist in recent times, and not a single example is in the Hume Collection, so that the
occurrence of the species in N.W. India must be received with caution.
The following account of the species is taken from Seebohm’s ‘ History of British Birds ’ :—
“ The winter haunt of the Red-wing is, as a rule, the most cultivated parts of the country—well-
wooded. parks, pleasure-grounds, and shrubberies, and the adjoining pasture-lands. When once
these birds arrive in a certain district, they usually remain there throughout the time of their sojourn
in this country—roosting in one certain favourite place, feeding on certain pastures, and, in fact, as
regular in their habits and movements as the Rooks themselves. The favourite haunt of the Red-wing is
a sheltered valley down which a little brooklet runs, with trees scattered here and there, and tall hedgerows
of thorn and hazel. They are very partial to small parks thickly timbered and studded with clumps
of white-thorn trees, with here and there a cluster of hollies or a dense shrubbery, whither they repair at
nightfall to roost. They prefer districts where the evergreens are dense and plentiful—laurels, yews,
and hollies a century old or more, and the intervening space between them taken up by thick underwood
and forest trees,, and where huge sycamores, elms and beeches, oaks and horse-chestnut form a
regular labyrinth of arboreal seclusion. They feed on the lands adjoining, pasture and tumip-fields,
stubbles and meadows, with here and there a ‘ summer fallow.’ In a district like this, from
October to April, the Red-wing is a common bird. In the daytime they frequent the pastures ; and