100 



THE NATURALIST, 



it could not fly, seemed to me 

 truly miraculous ; it did however 

 survive. They remained two or 

 three weeks near the nesting site, 

 the old one always by the side of 

 the young one, feeding it, keeping 

 it up in the trees, and uttering un- 

 mistakable notes of alarm whenever i 

 an enemy appeared. Whfin it de- 

 scended to the ground to seek for | 

 itself the old one always called it up, 

 fluttering over its head, seemingly 

 in painful agitation. A few days 

 after their disappearance it struck 

 me to examine the nest, and to my 

 surprise I found the male bird dead 

 and decayed, and a young one also 

 decayed. I attributed the death of 

 the former, but perhaps wrongly, to 

 poison, for I scarcely think they 

 touch anything but insects, when 

 these are abundant. In the spring 

 I prevented a pair of Titmice from 

 building in the Eedstarts' hole, and 

 otherwise preserved it specially for 

 them, as I particularly wished to 

 have further opportunity of observ- 

 ing their habits ; but none came till 

 the 12 th of May. On that date I 

 saw a male hopping about the old 

 nesting site, but he shortly disap- 

 peared, and I saw no more all the 

 year. This year I have seen none. 

 The Redstart is one of the hand- 

 somest of our small birds. I have 

 often been amused and interested 

 in watching them of an evening. 

 The male used to take his stand on 



the top of a small apple tree, as near 

 as he could get to where his mate 

 was patiently incubating her eggs. 

 From this tree he would dart con- 

 tinually after the insects in the 

 air, returning to the same branch 

 after every capture. Sometimes he 

 would rise perpendicularly, take an 

 insect, then turn and descend with 

 elegant motion to his perch. They 

 only bred once in a season. One of 

 their breeding notes is almost iden- 

 tical with the common breeding 

 note of the Robin. I believe Red- 

 starts are less numerous in many 

 parts of England than they were 

 twenty or thirty years ago ; yet they 

 are not at all uncommon where 

 there are plenty of stone walls. 

 This year I was up in the hilly 

 parts of Yorkshire, in the breeding 

 season, and I saw several pairs. It 

 is rather remarkable that they should 

 decrease in the cultivated parts of the 

 country, in the central or eastern 

 portion of Yorkshire for instance, 

 where insects abound in greater 

 numbers, and in greater variety 

 than in the uncultivated districts 

 where they seem to have maintained 

 their footing. Abundance of proper 

 food and suitable breeding places, 

 are the chief attractions to the mi- 

 gratory birds ; and it appears almost 

 contrary to what one might expect, 

 that in this instance, the latter is 

 the preponderating allurement. — 

 G. Roberts, Lofthouse, Wakefield. 



