THE BIRDS OF DEVONSHIRE. 13 



and restless a bird to really thrive well in confine- 

 ment, unless enjoying the run of a large aviary. 

 Bellamy's vague assertion that this bird had nested 

 near Exeter prior to 1839, (Nat. Hist, of Devon p. 

 200). hardly requires serious consideration, but Mr. 

 Gatcombe was once under the impression that an 

 adult male spent an entire summer in his winter 

 haunts, a supposition strengthened by the fact that 

 Mr. Howard Saunders and other competent observers 

 have met with stragglers of this species in England 

 in May and June. No one understood the changes 

 of plumage in this species better than Mr. Gatcombe 

 who examined many specimens on the continent as 

 well as at home, and gave Mr. J. H. Gurney a 

 specimen of the variety, in which the white aloe 

 patch of the perfectly adult male is entirely 

 suppressed; the s])ecimen being fully mature in all 

 other respects. 



RED-SPOTTED BLVETRUO^T.—C/jaJiecula mmca, (Linn). 

 A EARE visitant. In Septeml3er, 1852, a single 

 specimen of the Bluethroat Warbler was shot in a 

 furze brake by Mr. BuUer, near Whimple, South 

 Devon, (Zool 1852 p. 8709). 



REDBREAST.— ^y77/^r/(7<,s ruhecula, (Linn). 

 An abundant resident, but many migrate before 

 winter and others leave the colder districts for the 

 coast. Writing in December, Mr. Gatcombe remarks, 

 " It is quite surprising to observe the quantity of 

 Robins that fretjuent the wildest parts of our rocky 



