The REDWING (_Turdus iliacus_) is eight inches and a half long and
thirteen and a half broad. Its wing measures four and a half, and tail
three and a half inches. Upon the upper part of the body the plumage
is of a greenish brown, the under side whitish, the sides of the
breast bright rust-red, and the throat yellowish, marked all over with
triangular and round dark brown spots. The female is of a lighter colour
than her mate. The back of the young is greenish, spotted with yellow,
and their lower wing-covers rust-red; the eyes of all are reddish brown;
the beak black, except at the base of the lower mandible, which is grey;
the foot is of a reddish hue. This species is also an inhabitant of
Northern Europe, but usually appears in the more southern portions of the
continent at the close of autumn. Its winter migration extends as far as
Northern Africa; it is also met with in Asia, but has never, we believe,
been seen in an easterly direction beyond Irkutzk.
[Illustration: THE REDWING (_Turdus iliacus_).]
It generally arrives in Great Britain about October, appearing in large
flocks; and great numbers frequently perish, should the winter be
extremely severe. "The Redwings," says Yarrell, in his excellent "History
of British Birds," "are much less inclined to feed on berries than most
of the other species of this genus, and should the resources obtained by
their search on the ground be closed against them by long-continued frost
and snow, the Redwings are first to suffer. During such severe seasons as
in 1799, 1814, and 1822, hundreds have been found almost starved, alike
unable to prosecute their journey south to more congenial countries, or
to bear the rigour of this." Whether such mortality resulted from the
intensity of the cold, or the long continuance of snow upon the ground,
may be matter for speculation.