286 BRITISH BIRDS. 
Genus RUTICILLA. 
The genus Ruticilla was established by Brehm in 1828, in the ‘Isis,’ 
p. 1280. He designated R. phenicurus (the Ficedula ruticilla of Brisson) as 
the type. Most of the birds in this genus have the rump- and the tail-_ 
feathers, except the two centre ones, chestnut. The culmen is short, not 
more than one fourth the length of the tail, and the legs are always black. 
All the male adult birds, except one species, have black or very dark-blue 
throats. 
There are about thirteen species in the present genus, which are distri- 
buted throughout the temperate portion of the Palearctic Region and the 
Highlands of the Himalayas, the number of species being greatest in the 
latter district. Two species breed throughout temperate Europe, one of 
which is a regular summer migrant to the British Islands, and the other is 
a regular though rare winter visitant to the south coast of England. One 
other species has accidentally wandered as far as Heligoland. 
The Redstarts form a link between the Thrushes (through the Rock- 
Thrushes) and the Chats, and are closely connected with the Robins 
through the Bluethroats. They are birds more or less arboreal in. their 
habits, frequenting bushes and cultivated places, although one or two 
species affect mountainous localities. They are sprightly, restless birds, 
feeding chiefly on insects, many of which they secure on the wing. The 
Redstarts are fair songsters. Their nests are very loosely put together, 
made of dried grasses, feathers, moss, wool, hair, &c., and usually placed 
in holes of trees and rocks. Their eggs, from five to eight in number, 
range from pure white to pale blue, as a rule unspotted, although the eggs 
of one or two species are sparingly marked with pale brown. 
