BLACK REDSTART. S43 



lined with hair: the eggs are five or six in number, ten lines 

 in length by seven lines in breadth, white, smooth, and 

 shining. The female frequently has two broods in the 

 season. The song of the male, according to Bechstein, 

 " contains a few high, clear notes, which may be heard from 

 an early hour in the morning till night. The bird is always 

 gay and active, shaking its tail at every hop, and continually 

 nttering its peculiar call-note."" 



In the adult male, the beak is black, the irides blackish 

 brown ; the top of the head, neck, and back, dark bluish 

 grey : wing-coverts and quill-feathers greyish black ; the 

 coverts edged with lighter grey ; the secondaries and tertials 

 on the outer edges almost white : rump and tail-coverts 

 chestnut ; tail-feathers bright chestnut, except the two mid- 

 dle feathers, which are very dark brown, almost black. The 

 cheeks, chin, throat, breast, and sides, dark sooty grey, be- 

 coming slate-grey on the belly, and still lighter on the vent 

 and under tail-coverts, which are tinged with red ; under 

 wing-coverts dull greyish white ; under surface of the pri- 

 maries lead-grey ; under surface of tail-feathers chestnut ; 

 legs, toes, and claws, black. 



The whole length of the bird is five inches and three- 

 quarters. From the carpal joint to the end of the longest 

 quill-feather three inches and three-eighths : the first quill- 

 feather very short ; the second and the seventh nearly equal 

 in length ; the third rather longer than the sixth ; the fourth 

 and fifth equal, and the longest in the wing. 



The female of this species is not very unlike the female of 

 the Common Redstart, but is generally somewhat darker. 

 The upper parts are of a dull brownish grey, the tertials 

 being margined with buffy white ; tail-feathers brownish red ; 

 under surface of the body light grey. 



The young birds of the year in their first plumage resem- 

 ble adult females : the young males afterwards assume by 



R 2 



