the irides brown ; the forehead white ; the top of the head,
the scapulars, back, and wing-coverts, lead grey; wing-
feathers brown, with the outer edges rather lighter; upper
tail-coverts and tail-feathers bright rufous chestnut, the centres
only of the two middle tail-feathers being marked with
a longitudinal stripe of dark brown ; the chin, throat, sides of
the neck and face, including the eyes, jet black; breast,
belly, under wing and tail-coverts, and under surface of tail-
feathers, pale chestnut; under surface of the quill-feathers of
the wings grey; legs, toes, and claws, brown.
The whole length of the bird five inches and one quarter.
From the carpal joint of the wing to the end of the longest
wing-feather, three inches : the first wing-feather very short;
the second equal in length to the sixth ; the third, fourth,
and fifth nearly equal, but the fourth the longest.
The female has neither the white nor the black on the
head; the upper surface of the body greyish brown ; the
chestnut colour of the tail-feathers, and their upper coverts,
rather less bright than in the males ; under surface of the
body and tail-feathers pale reddish brown. Very old females
obtain plumage somewhat similar to that of the males ; but
the colours are neither so pure nor so bright.
The young in their nestling plumage very closely resemble
the young of the Robin, except on the rump and ta il; all
the upper parts are of a dusky brown, with a pale spot upon
each feather; wing-coverts broadly edged with pale brown ;
tail and tail-coverts rufous ; breast mottled with yellowish
and dusky brown.
Young males of the year after their autumn moult, and
adult males in winter, have the black and chestnut parts of
the throat and breast varied with white lines ; no white on
the forehead of the young males; and the upper parts of the
body are pale reddish brown, tinged with grey.
INSESSORES.
DENTIROSTRES.
S Y L V IA VÆ .
TH E BLACK REDSTART.
Phoenicura tithys,
Sylvia ,,
Ficedula ,,
Phænicura ,,
Sylvia ,,
Tithys Redstart, S elby, Brit. Ornith. vol. i. p. 193.
Black Redtail, J enyns, Brit. Vert. p. 105.
„ Redstart, E yton, Rarer Brit. Birds, p. 7.
,, , , G otjld, Birds of Europe, pt. viii.
Bec-Jin Rouge queue, T emm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. i. p.218.
T h e B l a c k R e d s t a r t , which is at once distinguished
from the well-known and common Redstart, last described,
by being sooty black on the breast and belly where the other
is reddish brown, was first made known as an occasional
visiter to this country by Mr. Gould, who recorded the occurrence
and capture of a specimen near London in October
1829 : and another example has since been seen in the Regent’s
Park. In 1830, two other specimens were obtained;