470 PERCHING BIRDS 



their tints are duller ; if this be so, it indicates that the redstart, like 

 the bluethroat, is tending towards the development of a similar type 

 of brilliant plumage in both sexes. When leaving the nest young 

 redstarts are very like young redbreasts, from which they may, 

 however, be distinguished by the rufous upper tail-coverts and tail- 

 feathers ; they are greyish brown spotted with buff above, and have the 

 breast mottled with yellowish and dusky brown. It should be added 

 that in winter (when it is unknown in this country) the redstart is a 

 much greyer bird, owing to the presence of pale margins to the 

 feathers, which are gradually worn away. 



The breeding-range of the redstart includes practically the whole 

 of central and northern Europe up to the Arctic Circle, and extends 

 eastwards to the Yenesei valley in Siberia, while it also embraces the 

 mountains of southern Europe. In autumn redstarts migrate south 

 to pass the winter in Africa, Palestine, and Persia. The species is one 

 of those birds which for some unexplained reason have of late years 

 taken to increase their range in the British Isles, over practically 

 the whole of which they now breed. Up to the year 1852, for 

 instance, only six instances of the occurrence of the redstart in 

 Ireland were known ; but at the present day, although it must still be 

 regarded as a somewhat rare visitor, it is known to nest in at least two 

 localities in County Wicklow, and either one or two in County Tyrone, 

 while the number of visitors appears to be annually increasing. 

 Similarly, it is only of late years that it has taken to breed in 

 Sutherlandshire and Caithness, while in 1901 the first nest of the 

 species was recorded in Shetland, where, as in Orkney, the bird had 

 previously been known only as an occasional straggler. Up to a few 

 )'ears ago, at any rate, the species was unknown in the Outer 

 Hebrides. 



In the circumstance that the males arrive a few da)-s earlier in the 

 spring than the females, and also that during the breeding-season the 

 former frequently sing during the night, the habits of the redstart 

 resemble those of the nightingale, although there can be no sort of 

 comparison between the song of the two birds. The habit of constantly 

 vibrating the tail is verj' characteristic of redstarts, which are much more 

 often seen immediately after their arrival than later on, when they 

 become very shy and retiring. Although they feed very largely on 

 the ground, they also perch on boughs from which they catch insects 

 on the wing in flycatcher- fashion. The clutch of pale blue eggs, 

 usually from five to six, although occasionally as many as eight, is 

 laid in a loosely constructed nest of grass, moss, and a little wool. 



