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The constant jerking motions of this appendage, with which it 

 accompanies its change of position; the remarkable way they close 

 and expand their tail, so rapidly and frequently, taken in conjunction 

 with the colour, so clearly distinguish it, that you cannot mistake 

 the Redstart for any other bird. This visitor is distributed over 

 the greater part of Europe, from France, Italy, and Spain, to 

 Holland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Russia, and 

 Siberia, and according to Temminck, is found in Japan. It is a 

 bird of no great abundance anywhere, and in some parts is con- 

 sidered rare ; it regularly resorts every year to some places, and in 

 others is never seen. In this district it is fairly plentiful ; you 

 may see it from the garden wall, up to a height of nine hundred 

 feet on Croglin Fell. It is partial to old ruins, and especially if 

 covered with ivy ; old walls, outbuildings, and in the suburbs of 

 towns ; you will also find it in the depths of woods, particularly 

 those of the birch. It arrives here about the nth of April, and 

 departs about the end of August or the beginning of September. 

 The young birds leave before the old ones. The male is one of 

 the handsomest birds we have, and is sure to attract attention with 

 his white forehead and black throat, particularly when perched on 

 some commanding situation — the top of a tree, top of a post, or 

 on a jutting pinnacle of a ruin. This bird on its first arrival (the 

 male precedes the female) will sit and sing for hours in early morn, 

 and anyone who has seen and heard him, from the top of some 

 ruined abbey or old castle, is not likely to forget his somewhat 

 plaintive strain. The song of this bird varies much in its expression, 

 being sometimes low, soft, and sweet, and at other times bold and 

 jerking, reminding one of the Common Wren's vernal spring 

 roundelay. Although knowing the song of the Redstart so well, I 

 was once, when up at Aldby Field, on the foothills of the Pennine 

 range, much struck by a peculiar song which sounded from an 

 orchard. I was not satisfied till I had made out the songster, 

 which turned out to be a Redstart, perched on the top of an apple 

 tree. I had never before, nor have I ever since, heard the same 

 song from the Redtail ; it imitated the song of several birds, notably 

 those of the Blackcap and the Garden Warbler, and mixed their 



