145 



ZOOLOGICAL NOTES; 



BEING SOME REMARKS ON CERTAIN RARITIES 

 OCCURRING NEAR BANFF. 



By ME. EDWARDS. 



The following interesting remarks were elicited from Mr. Edwards, of Banff, 

 by a request that he would give some information respecting the first-named 

 bird, which was lately taken by Provost Sinclair, in his garden at Cullen; 

 and about the last-named monstrosity — a curious worm, which occurred in the 

 garden of the Rev. Mr. Steinson, of the parish of King-Edward. — B. R. M. 



I am glad to be able to inform you, that the bird which you sent me 

 for inspection and preservation, is the Black Redstart, {Phoenicura tithys,) 

 a bird which has never, as far as I can learn, been previously obtained in 

 Scotland. Instances are on record of their having been found in some of 

 the southern counties of England; and, strange to say, though a summer 

 bird of passage, their occurrence there has either been in the autumn or in 

 winter. But, though they are known to visit Britain occasionally, there is no 

 authenticated account of their ever having bred in the country. They are 

 somewhat plentiful in certain parts of Germany, and are met with in Italy, 

 Greece, and at Gibraltar, They are abundant in Asia; but are not found 

 in America. They frequent rocky and mountainous situations, and old ruins. 

 The egg of this species is of a very pure white, whereas those of the other 

 birds belonging to the same genus are blue. The Common Redstart, which 

 has been known to breed in this locality, is a distinct bird from the one I 

 am speaking of. 



The term Black Redstart^ will perhaps appear to many as rather contradictory 

 and unmeaning. That it does so at first sight, I do not deny; but a little 

 description of the bird itself will best explain the matter. The present 

 specimen, a male, weighs one half ounce; length of bill, half an inch; tail, 

 a little more than three inches; extreme length, five and a half inches, full; 

 chin, throat, breast, and cheeks, up to the eye, black, (this last circumstance, 

 together with the fact of the tail being reddish, has given rise to the English 

 name of the bird — the other syllable, start, being an English provincialism 

 for tail;) a narrow band or streak of the same colour passes round the 

 forehead from eye to eye, encircling the base of the upper mandible; passing 

 from the breast along the sides and flank, and on to the abdomen, of a 

 blackish blue; from thence on to the vent, a dull white; top of the head, 

 which is lightest, neck, and back, stretching down to the rump, a pale or 

 dull lead or slate colour. The wing, with the exception about to be stated, 

 is of a dark brown, and about the middle, when closed, a very conspicuous 

 band or strip of white, lengthways, not across, presents itself, in consequence 



VOL. I, U 



