THE PERCHING BIRDS. 137 



the Continent late in April, and leaves again early in 

 October. It is easily distinguished from the stonechat 

 and sundry other small birds, with which on 

 * occasion it foregathers,- by the white spot on 

 each wing and the white line over the eye. This bird is 

 very partial to the noxious wireworm. The nest, built of 

 fine grasses and moss, is placed at the foot of a furze-bush, 

 on or near the ground. Eggs, 5 or 6, considerably under 

 I inch ; greenish blue, with a zone of reddish spots. The 

 first brood is reared in May, and there is usually a second 

 early in July. This bird does not appear to breed in 

 Cornwall, but is widely distributed over the rest of these 

 islands. 



Not unlike the last, the Stonechat is distinguished by its 

 uniformly black head and the white bars on its wings. A 

 common resident in parts of Great Britain and 

 Ireland, its range extends to the Hebrides 

 and Orkneys : in the latter, rare. In some districts it is 

 migratory, uncertain and capricious in its comings and 

 goings. Its food consists almost entirely of insects, which 

 it captures on the wing. Its nest is not unlike that of the 

 last, only somewhat more carefully lined. It is usually 

 on the ground. It used to nest abundantly on Dartford 

 Heath and round Chiselhurst (1886-87). Eggs, 5, about 

 yz inch ; two types in my collection both greenish blue, 

 one with a narrow belt of spots, the other with the larger 

 end thickly spotted with red. A second brood is some- 

 times, but not invariably, reared. 



« 



Arriving from Eastern Europe in March, leaving again 

 in September, the Redstart, an insectivorous bird, is far 

 more common in Great Britain than in Ire- 

 land, where, save in a few districts on the 

 north and east, it is extremely rare. It is also rare in 

 Cornwall. The redstart is easily recognised by its white 

 forehead and black throat. It nests, at no great height 



