214 THE REDSTART. 



as a delicacy for the table, is rather persecuted by the game-dealers and their emissaries. The 

 food of this bird is the same as that of the stonechat. The Whinchat arrives in this country 

 about the middle or towards the end of April, according to the locality and the weather. It 

 builds its nest soon after its arrival, and hatches its young about the end of May or the begin- 

 ning of June. The nest is placed on the ground, is made after the fashion of the stonechat' s 

 habitation, and contains from four to six bluish -green eggs, slightly speckled with reddish- 

 brown. Two broods are hatched in the course of the year. 



The coloring of the Whinchat is as follows : The top of the head, the neck, and the back 

 are mottled brown, each feather being lighter at the circumference than in the centre. An 

 irregular broad brown streak extends from the angle of the mouth to the back of the neck, 

 and above the eye is a long and rather wide streak of white. Another white stripe passes 

 immediately below the dark-brown streak, and extends from the chin almost to the shoulder. 

 The tail is white upon the base, and brown at the tip, each feather being edged with a lighter 

 shade of the same hue. The chin is white, the throat and chest are pale fawn, and the abdo- 

 men is buff. The length of the bird is not quite five inches. 



THE specific title of phcenicura, which is given to the REDSTART, signifies ruddy-tail, and 

 is attributed to the bird in consequence of the light ruddy-chestnut feathers of the tail and 

 upper tail-coverts. 



It is a handsomely colored and elegantly shaped bird, and is a great ornament to our fields 

 and hedgerows. The name of Redstart is a very appropriate one, and has been given to the 

 bird in allusion to the peculiar character of its flight. While walking quietly along the 

 hedgerows, the observer may often see a bird flash suddenly out of the leafage, flirt its tail in 

 the air, displaying strongly a bright gleam of ruddy hue, and after a sharp dash of a few 

 yards, turn into the hedge again with as much suddenness as it had displayed in its exit. 

 These manoeuvres it will repeat frequently, always keeping well in front, and at last it will 

 quietly slip through the hedge, double back on the opposite side, and return to the spot from 

 whence it had started. 



No one need fancy, from seeing the bird in the hedge, that its nest is in close proximity, 

 for the Redstart seldom builds in such localities, only haunting them for the sake of obtaining 

 food for its young. The nest is almost invariably built in the hole of an old wall, in a crevice 

 of rock, a heap of large stones, in a hollow tree, or in very thick ivy. I have known this bird 

 to make its nest in quite a small hole in a wall ; the nest looking out upon a passage, and being 

 within five feet of the ground. The eggs are generally five in number, although they vary from 

 four to seven, and are of a beautiful blue, with a slight tinge of green. They are not unlike 

 those of the common hedge sparrow, but are shorter and of a different contour. 



The Redstart has a very sweet song, which, although not very powerful, is soft and melo- 

 dious, bearing some resemblance to that of the nightingale. The bird has a habit of sitting on 

 the top of a wall or some elevated spot, and there pouring forth his song, looking about in 

 every direction, as if inviting a challenge, and spreading and closing his tail at intervals. 

 Presently, without ceasing the song, he will dart off to another spot, in one of the short, 

 uncertain flights which characterize the species, and settling upon some fresh perch, sing 

 with new vigor. It often happens that in the breeding season the Redstart continues to sing 

 far into the night, and recommences at the earliest approach of dawn. 



The food of the Redstart is mostly of an insect nature, and is obtained in various ways. 

 Sometimes the bird dashes from its perch upon a passing insect, after the manner of the fly- 

 catcher ; sometimes it chases beetles and other creeping insects upon the leaves and branches 

 of the hedges ; sometimes it hunts for worms, grubs, and snails from the ground ; and it often 

 picks maggots out of fungi, decaying wood, mosses, and lichens. Soft ripe fruit is also eaten 

 by the Redstart, which, however, ought to be allowed its free range of the garden in recom- 

 pense for the great service which it has performed in the earlier portion of the year, by 

 devouring the myriad insects that feed upon the blossoms of fruit-trees. The softer berries 

 form part of the Redstart's diet, but the bird does not seem to care about the hard seeds. 



The coloring of the Redstart is as follows : The top of the head, the neck, and the back 



