INSESSORES. 39 



opportunity of examining both bird and nest, and 

 satisfying myself with regard to both. 



A brood of young Robins was hatched in our 

 garden, and, without being confined in any way, they 

 became so tame that they wouki come through the 

 window to the breakfast table for crumbs, and would 

 follow my father in the garden and light upon his 

 head, until, through their fearlessness, they at last 

 fell prey to a cat. 



Redstart, Sylvia Phcenicurus. A regular summer 

 visitant, generally arriving about the second week 

 in April, and remaining until September. Small 

 beetles, flies, and spiders, form the chief food of the 

 Redstart, while it fortunately visits us at a time of 

 year when caterpillars become troublesome and 

 require thinning. Its notes, which are short and 

 weak, hardly deserve the name of song. 



I am inclined to think that the males of this species 

 arrive before the females, for I have observed males 

 often ten or twelve days before any females, when I 

 have been looking out for their arrival in April. I 

 have seen this bird here as late as September 7th. 



Black Redstart, Sylvia Tithys. A rare winter 

 visitant. This bird was first added to the British 

 fauna by Mr. Bond, who shot a specimen in a brick- 

 field at Kilburn, on the 25th October, 1829. A full 

 description of this bird will be found in a letter 

 from Mr. Gould to Mr. Vigors in the ' Zoological 



Journal' (Vol. May 1829 to Feb. 1830, p. 102). 



E 2 



