99 

 THE EEDSTART. 



PHCENICURA RUTICILLA. 



Forehead white ; throat black ; head and upper part of the back bluish grey ; 

 breast, taU-coverts and tail (except the two central feathers, which are brown), 

 bright rust-red; second primary equal to the sixth. Female— up-per parts 

 grey, deeply tinged with red ; larger wing-coverts edged with yellowish red : 

 throat and abdomen whitish ; breast, flanks, and under tail-coverts, pale red. 

 Length, five inches and a quarter. Eggs uniform blue. 



Although of no great size, this summer visitor is pretty 

 sure to attract attention by its peculiar colouring; its red tail 

 and white crown being sufficient to distinguish it from every 

 other British bird. It is familiar too in its habits, com- 

 monly resorting to gardens, and searching for its favourite 

 food, worms and insects, on the lawn. It is local rather 

 than rare, for while there are some places to which it 

 regularly resorts every year, there are others in which it is 

 never seen. Eedstarts arrive in this country about the end 

 of April, and soon set about the work of building their 

 nest. This they generally place in a hole in a wall or 

 hollow of a tree, but sometimes by the mossy .stump 

 or amongst the exposed roots of a tree. Occasionally they 

 select a quaint domicile, a garden-pot, for example, left 

 bottom upwards, or a sea-kale bed. A still stranger 

 instance is that of a pair of Eedstarts, who, themselves or 

 their descendants, were for twenty years located in the box 

 of a wooden pump. On one occasion, the pump being out 

 of order, the owner employed workmen to repair it. This 

 proceeding offended the birds, who deserted it for three 

 years, and then, forgetting or forgiving the intrusion, re- 

 turned to their unquiet home. Another pair constructed 

 their nest for ten successive years in the interior of an 

 earthenware fountain placed in the middle of a garden. 

 But though not averse to the haunts of men, the Eedstart 

 shows much anxiety when its nest is approached, flitting 

 about restlessly and uttering a plaintive cry. I happened 

 once to be walking in a friend's garden, and heard what 

 I supposed to be the chirping of two birds proceed from a 

 h2 



