138 BIRDS. 



from the ground, in holes in trees or walls, and, like 

 almost all builders in holes, constructs a bulky nest of 

 grass lined with feathers. Eggs, 6, ^ inch ; very pale 

 blue and usually without spots. 



The Black Kedstart, a regular, but never common, visitor 

 to the southern counties of England and Ireland, rarely 

 t Black reaches Scotland. It is said to have bred in 



Redstart. Qj-^g qj. ^^q counties, Essex among them; but 

 this appears by no means certain. I have taken its nest 

 in old walls in Mecklenburg, the eggs being pure white. 

 The bird is distinguished from the last by its black fore- 

 head and the white patch on the wdng. 



The Ked- spotted Bluethroat wanders from Northern 

 tRed- Europe and Asia, as a rule, to only our east 



spotted coast, but a few are recorded from Scotland. 



Bluethroat. rpj^^ ^^^^^^ -^ ^^^^^ ^^.^j^ ^ ^^jj ^^^ ^^^^^^ .^^ 



the centre. 



[t White-spotted Bluethroat, possibly a race only of the 

 last. The throat-patch is Avliite.] 



The Robin is one of the most familiar of our resident 

 birds. I found an almost identical bird (Fetro'ica) in Aus- 

 tralia, its voice as pleasing, its ways as pert. 

 The redbreast is at all times, save perhaps in 

 the autumn moult, a bold bird, and one easily observed. 

 The precise extent of its migrations, as well as the question 

 of its pairing for life, seem still undecided. I believe per- 

 sonally that it does mate for life, as, having taken from 

 a robin's nest near Crayford (April 1886) a remarkably 

 beautiful type of egg, of coffee colour and without spots or 

 markings of any kind, I tried the experiment of abstract- 

 ing two eggs, the rest of the clutch being of the commoner 

 type with red spots, to induce the female to make up the 

 proper number before sitting, a habit noticed so far only 

 in the life-pairing birds. ]My attempt was so far success- 



