cises great influence in determining the time of the appearance
of this bird, as well as some others; the state of vese- O
tation and temperature being generally better indicators than
the almanack.
In some particulars the Redstart resembles the Blue-throat
and the Redbreast. It inhabits the skirts of forests, lanes,
meadows, orchards and gardens, and is partial to old walls
and ruins, particularly if overrun with ivy. The male bird
is remarkable for the distribution and purity of the colours
of his plumage, and makes himself rather .conspicuous by
perching on the uppermost branch of low trees, moving his
tail repeatedly, and singing his soft and sweet song,—occasionally
taking a short flight to some other prominent station,
and singing as he flies. Like most of those birds that are
gifted with powers of song, as observed in the. account of
the Blackbird, the Redstart is also an imitator of the notes
of other birds ; and some have been taught, like the Bullfinch,
to repeat a tune. Mr. Sweet possessed a Redstart
that whistled the Copenhagen Waltz ; and other males of this
species have been known to imitate very closely the notes
of the Sparrow and Chaffinch, and the songs of the Garden
Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat.
The food of the Redstart is worms, beetles and their errubs.
flies, spiders, ants and their eggs, fruit, and berries. Most
of these they seek for on the ground, like the Accentors and
Redbreasts; but they are also frequently seen to capture insects
on the wing with as much ease and certainty as the true
Flycatchers.
The nest, which is rather loosely constructed, is formed of
moss externally, and lined with hair and feathers : it is occasionally
placed in a hollow tree, or in a hole in a wall, or
behind a branch of a tree that is trained against a wall, and
sometimes in a hole on the ground even where there has
happened to be abundance of trees.
The eggs are from four to six in number, sometimes
seven ; and in a few instances as many as eight have been
found. The egg is of a uniform greenish blue colour, eight
lines and a half long, and six lines and a half in breadth.
Two broods are sometimes produced in the season. Mr.
Jenyns says, the young of the first brood are fledged by the
second week in June.
The Redstart as a species is naturally a shy and timid
b ird ; but during the time the female is sitting, the male
exposes himself constantly, and may almost always be seen
in some conspicuous situation, not far from the nest. At
this season he sings early and late ; he has been heard singing
after ten o’clock at night, and at three in the following
morning.
The Redstart was considered by Pennant and some other
authors not to extend its range to the westward beyond
Exeter; but though rather rare in the eastern part of Cornwall,
it is not an uncommon bird in the extreme western part,
as I learn from the communications of Mr. Couch and Mr.
Rodd. This bird also visits Wales now, and has been obtained
once in Ireland, near Belfast, by Dr. J. D. Marshall,
as I learn from W. Thompson, Esq.
In a northern direction from London, it is found in Suffolk,
Norfolk, Yorkshire, Northumberland, and various parts
of Scotland, even to Sutherlandshire. Still further north, it
visits Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Siberia, Russia, and from
thence southward it is distributed over the more temperate
parts of Europe. It is abundant in Holland, Franee, Provence,
Spain, and Italy. Specimens have been received
from Trebizond, and also from Erzerum, about one hundred
miles farther to the south-east of Trebizond. M. Temminek
includes it among the birds of Japan.
In the adult male Redstart during summer the beak is
black, with a narrow band of black feathers above its base;