one at Bristol, the other at Brighton. In January 1838, a
fourth example occurred at Teignmouth in Devonshire ; and
in December 1835, a fifth specimen was shot near Bristol
while flying about with some Stonechats among furze. It
has also been obtained, once at least, in the South of Ireland,
on the concurrent testimony of Robert Ball, Esq. of Dublin,
and William Thompson, Esq. of Belfast.
This bird, according to M. Nilsson, is very rare in Sweden,
and in the northern parts of the European Continent
generally, and is seldom seen in Holland : it is, however,
rather a common summer visiter to Germany, France, and
Switzerland; more plentiful in Provence, Spain, and Italy,
in which countries it is resident from April to October, occasionally
remaining in the South of Italy during the winter;
and it will be remembered that three of the specimens of this
bird obtained in this country were shot during the winter.
M. Temminck says it inhabits the Morea ; and Mr. Strickland
observed that it was common on the bare rocky hills
near Smyrna, where it also remains during winter. The
specimen figured by Edwards in his twenty-ninth plate was
received from Gibraltar ; and the Prince of Musignano, when
at sea in the spring of 1828, being then five hundred miles
from Portugal and four hundred from Africa, obtained
a specimen of this bird, which was caught with some other
small birds on the rigging of the vessel, the wind at the
time blowing strong from the eastward.
The manners and habits of this bird are somewhat similar
to those of the Redstart; but it prefers stony places, and is
rarely seen on the plains. Its food consists of worms, insects
in their various stages, the smaller fruits, and berries. It
makes a nest in the clefts of rocks; and when it frequents
towns or villages, it chooses holes in walls, roofs of houses,
and sometimes, according to M. Vieillot, the elevated parts
of churches. The nest is formed externally of grass, and
BLACK REDSTART. 243
lined with hair: the eggs are five or six in number, ten lines
in length by seven lines in breadth, white, smooth, and
shining. The female frequently has two broods in the
season. The song of the male, according to Bechstein,
“ contains a few high, clear notes, which may be heard from
an early hour in the morning till night. The bird is always
gay and active, shaking its tail at every hop, and continually
uttering its peculiar call-note.'”
In the adult male, the beak is black, the irides blackish
brown; the top of the head, neck, and back, dark bluish
grey: wing-coverts and quill-feathers greyish black; the
coverts edged with lighter grey ; the secondaries and tertials
on the outer edges almost white: rump and tail-coverts
chestnut; tail-feathers bright chestnut, except the two middle
feathers, which are very dark brown, almost black. The
cheeks, chin, throat, breast, and sides, dark sooty grey, becoming
slate-grey on the belly, and still lighter on the vent
and under tail-coverts, which are tinged with re d ; under
wing-coverts dull greyish white; under surface of the primaries
lead-grey ; under surface of tail-feathers chestnut;
legs, toes, and claws, black.
The whole length of the bird is five inches and three-
quarters. From the carpal joint to the end of the longest
quill-feather three inches and three-eighths : the first quill-
feather very short; the second and the seventh nearly equal
in length ; the third rather longer than the sixth ; the fourth
and fifth equal, and the longest in the wing.
The female of this species is not very unlike the female of
the Common Redstart, but is generally somewhat darker.
The upper parts are of a dull brownish grey, the tertials
being margined with buffy white ; tail-feathers brownish red ;
under surface of the body light grey.
The young birds of the year in their first plumage resemble
adult females: the young males afterwards assume by
r 2