BIRDS OF THE WOODLANDS 69 



Like the Nightingale, the Redstart appears to 

 shun certain counties in the south-\vest of England. 

 In West Devonshire and Cornwall, for example, it 

 must be classed as a very rare bird. In plumage 

 the male is one of the most beautiful of the warbler 

 group. The bright ash-grey of the head and back 

 when contrasted with the jetty blackness of the 

 throat, renders the bird at once conspicuous. After 

 the manner of the Robin, Spotted Flycatcher and 

 others, the Redstart often chooses unconventional 

 nesting places. A photograph shows a nest in 

 a derelict tin bottle. 



The Redstart is known in most countries in Con- 

 tinental Europe, and it breeds in high northern 

 latitudes even as far as the North Cape. In Fin- 

 land it is said to be the commonest of all the warblers. 

 These birds are true summer visitants, arriving in 

 England in mid-April and returning southwards in 

 August or early September. The young are said to 

 leave before the old. The song of the male is sweet, 

 and forms a welcome addition to the woodland 

 chorus, but is short and of no great power. It is 

 usually uttered from some commanding position, 

 the dead branch of a tall tree being often chosen. 



In spring, when the opening leaves have spread 

 a veil of green over the forest trees, and the earliest 

 Swallows are skimming across the meadow, the 

 attention is attracted by the flicker of a red tail as a 

 small bird flits across the path through the wood. 

 Unlike the Wood Wren, he does not instantly dive 

 into the tangled recesses of the nearest thicket, as 

 though fearing that a human eye should rest upon 

 him even for a moment. Indeed, there is something 



