242 SYLVIAD.E. 



one at Bristol, the other at Brighton. In January 1833, a 

 fourth example occurred at Teignmouth in Devonshire ; and 

 in December 1835, a fifth specimen was shot near Bristol 

 while flying about with some Stonechats among furze. It 

 has also been obtained, once at least, in the South of Ireland, 

 on the concurrent testimony of Robert Ball, Esq. of Dublin, 

 and William Thompson, Esq. of Belfast. 



This bird, according to M. Nilsson, is very rare in Swe- 

 den, and in the northern parts of the European Continent 

 generally, and is seldom seen in Holland : it is, however, 

 rather a common summer visiter to Germany, France, and 

 Switzerland ; more plentiful in Provence, Spain, and Italy, 

 in which countries it is resident from April to October, occa- 

 sionally remaining in the South of Italy during the winter ; 

 and it will be remembered that three of the specimens of this 

 bird obtained in this country were shot duiing the winter. 

 M. Temminck says it inhabits the Morea ; and Mr. Strick- 

 land observed that it was common on the bare rocky hills 

 near Smyrna, where it also remains during winter. The 

 specimen figured by Edwards in his twenty-ninth plate was 

 received from Gibraltar ; and the Prince of Musignano, when 

 at sea in the spring of 1828, being then five hundred miles 

 from Portugal and four hundred from Africa, obtained 

 a specimen of this bird, which was caught with some other 

 small birds on the rigging of the vessel, the wind at the 

 time blowing strong from the eastward. 



The manners and habits of this bird are somewhat similar 

 to those of the Redstart ; but it prefers stony places, and is 

 rarely seen on the plains. Its food consists of worms, insects 

 in their various stages, the smaller fruits, and berries. It 

 makes a nest in the clefts of rocks ; and when it frequents 

 towns or villages, it chooses holes in walls, roofs of houses, 

 and sometimes, according to M. Vieillot, the elevated parts 

 of cliurchcs. The nest is formed externally of grass, and 



