SYLVIADZ. 8&5 
with dull white; the under parts of the latter 
colour.” 
The eggs are of a uniform greenish blue. 
Repstart, Phenicura ruticilla. The Redstart is 
one of the brightest and prettiest of our summer 
visitants. It arrives in this country about the middle 
of April: my own notes of its arrival vary from the 
16th to the 19th of April, and I have noticed its stay 
as late as the 23rd of October. Mr. Blake-Knox 
mentions two instances of the female having occurred 
in Iveland during the winter.* It is not at all an 
uncommon bird in this neighbourhood, where it is 
usually called the “ Firetail,” and being conspicuous 
from its bright colours and lively manners, is better 
known than many more common birds. 
The Redstart generally frequents orchards and 
gardens, where it appears to be of the greatest use 
by the destruction of mischievous insects. Some 
idea of the number of such things destroyed by birds 
may be gathered from the following note in the 
‘Zoologist’ for 1863:—“A pair of Redstarts who 
have a nest in my garden have done me the greatest 
service by devouring those pests of the garden, the 
gooseberry grub. From frequent observations I am 
convinced that a pair of Redstarts (during the time 
their young require their attention) will destroy at 
least six hundred grubs and caterpillars in a day.” 
* ¢ Zoologist’ for 1866 (Second Series, p. 222). 
E 
