The Black Redstart. 45 



breed with us has been questioned : eggs supposed to belong to this bird have, 

 from time to time been obtained in various localities, but in no case have the 

 birds themselves been satisfactorily identified in connection with these eggs : thus 

 an egg, believed by several eminent Ornithologists to be that of the Black 

 Redstart, was passed round at a Meeting of the Zoological Society in 1878, by 

 the Rev. R. P. Barron, M.A. ; he having obtained it with two others in Hertford- 

 shire in 1876. This egg was sent to me for illustration in my "Handbook of 

 British Oology," together with the remains of the nest ; Mr. Barron writing 

 respecting it as follows : — 



"The nest, I fear, is not very perfect, having been two j^ears left in its place; 

 it was found in the middle of May, 1876, right inside the hollow trunk of a living 

 elm-tree, at a distance of about seven or eight feet from the ground, in a projecting 

 ledge of the inside wood, and within a few feet of a small lake. There were 

 originally three eggs, of a slightly pinkish tint before being blown ; they had 

 been forsaken ; the nest seemed to be lined with hair and hay. You need not, 

 of course, return the egg or nest." 



When I received this egg I was satisfied, from the distinctly unhesitating 

 decision of well-known authorities, that it was a genuine Black Redstart's ; by 

 daylight, it then showed a scarcely perceptible bluish green tinge, which has since 

 entirely faded : looking at it now in conjunction with the remains of the nest, I 

 see no reason why it should not be a white egg of the common Robin. 



With regard to Mr. Stirling's nests, he does not indeed note that in one 

 instance the hen was engaged in incubation ; but, as he does not appear to have 

 secured her, and all his nests were found in hedges or thorn fencing, the nidifi- 

 cation of this species in Great Britain must still remain unproved, so far as his 

 observations are concerned. 



I have eggs of the Yellow-Hammer which might easily be mistaken for those 

 of the Black Redstart ; they are small for the species, being evidently deposited 

 by a young bird, and are pure white. Unless the female was distinctly identified 

 on the nest before she slipped awa}-, it is possible that she may have belonged to 

 quite another species : white eggs occur now and again with many birds, and it 

 is probable that the same hen would lay white eggs year after year. 



The Black Redstart in breeding plumage has the upper parts slate-greyish, 

 the riimp and upper tail-coverts chestniit ; wings brown, with the secondaries 

 broadly bordered with white on their outer webs ; tail chestnut, with the two 

 central feathers brown ; forehead, face, chin, throat, breast, axillaries and under 

 wing coverts black; belly and flanks buff; bill black, feet blackish, iris brown. 



The female is much duller than the male, being smoky brown above and 



