

THE BLACK EEDSTAHT. 



PHfENICURzi TITHYS. 



Upper plumage bluish grey ; bill, cheeks, throat, and breast, black, passing into 

 bluish beneath ; tail as in the last ; greater wing-coverts edged with pure 

 white ; second primary equal to the seventh. Female — upper plumage duller ; 

 lower bright ash, passing into white ; wings dusky, edged with grey ; red of 

 tlie tail less bright. Length, five inches and three quarters. Eggs pure shining 

 white. 



A MUCH less frequent visitor to this country than the 

 preceding, but by no means ranking among our rarest 

 birds, specimens occurring in the winter of every year in 

 some part of England or another. Its habits are much 

 the same as those of its congener ; but it generally chooses 

 a loftier situation for its nest, which is placed in the walls 

 of buildings, at an elevation varying from a few feet to 

 eighty or ninety. Its plumage differs in being much 

 darker in the fore part of the body, while the tail is of 

 a brighter red. The eggs are white. Both species are 



