REDWING. (1) An American blackbird (Agelaius phteniceus) of the oriole family (Ie teridat). The male in full plumage is jet-black, with the bend of the wing bright scarlet, bor dered with buff. The female is variegated with brown and buff, black and white. The redwing is inches long. It breeds throughout the United States, but winters from Virginia south ward. The nest is built of coarse grass and rushes among the bushes or reeds of a swamp, and the eggs are pale blue, with peculiar pen stroke markings of dark purple or black. (See Colored Plate of Ecos of AMERICAN SONG Rums.) The note is a loud clear call well imitated by the syllables cong-ka-ree, the last one accented and prolonged. The redwing is one of the first of the spring migrants in the Northern United States, and often appears in large flocks. Even when breeding the birds are more or less sociable, and several pairs are usually found in the same marsh. Like its relatives, the other blackbirds
and the bobolink, the redwing feeds on both in sects and seeds, and also enjoys unripe corn or grain, and occasionally raids the maize fields to a destructive extent. See BLACKBIRD.
(2) An English thrush (Turdas Mucus) which spends the summer in the northern parts of Europe and Asia, and migrates southward in winter as far as the Mediterranean. The general color is a rich clove-brown on the head, upper parts of the body, and tail; the lower parts whitish, tinged and streaked with brown; the under wing-coverts and axillary feathers bright reddish orange. The redwing congregates in large flocks and has an exquisite song.
(3) One of several other birds with red on the wings, as one of the South African par tridges (Francolinus Le Vaillanti).