56 THE BIRDS OF OXFORDSHIRE. 



the first few notes of a Blackbird or Thrush saluting- the 

 dawn, fall asleep again with the calm assurance that they 

 have heard the Nightingale; yet the full, rich, clear, high- 

 pitched notes once heard by those who have an ear for bird- 

 music will never be forgotten or confused with those of even 

 our sweetest warblers. 



THE REDSTART. -) 



Buticilla phoenicurus. 



The Redstart is a common summer visitor, arriving about 

 the second week in April and leaving in the latter part of 

 September. Breeding freely in suitable spots all over the 

 county, it frequents gardens and ornamental grounds to a 

 large extent. It is perhaps the most beautiful, and certainly 

 the most showy, of all our warblers. From its habit of 

 perching in an exposed position, its sprightly actions, and the 

 incessant and vociferous repetition of its alarm note when its 

 nest is approached, it is a very conspicuous bird. Although 

 now numerous it was much less plentiful a few years ago. 

 The Redstart usually builds in a hole in a tree or wall, but I 

 have known the nest placed in a crevice in the face of a stone- 

 pit, open to the sky, and in May, 1888, I saw a nest of this 

 species built in a thick honeysuckle trained on a trellis on the 

 house at Nuneham. 



In the spring of 1883 I examined a Redstart, shot near 

 Banbury soon after the arrival of these birds, which was in 

 almost exactly the same plumage as a male after it has com- 

 pleted its autumn moult. It is possible that this bird may 

 have been bred in the Redstart^s winter quarters. 



THE BLACK REDSTART. ^ ~' 



Buticilla titys. 

 The Black Redstart is an occasional visitor, and, unlike the 

 common species, should be looked for in winter. Lord Lilford 

 has an adult male which was killed near Oxford a day or two 



