46 The Black Redstart. 



slightly paler below, the white margins to the secondaries sordid, the chestnut of 

 rump and tail suffused with brownish. Nestlings are spotted above and below, 

 but as soon as they acquire their adult plumage they resemble the female ; their 

 full colouring not being attained until the second year. 



In its habits the Black Redstart is very like the Robin, but especially in its 

 frequent characteristic stoop, accompanied by an upward jerk of the tail, and its 

 alarm note tck, tek, tek. It appears to court the neighbourhood of mankind, 

 frequenting farmyards, orchards and gardens ; and, as recorded by Howard 

 Saunders, " Even in London one frequented the grounds of the Natural History 

 Museum, South Kensington, from November 1885 until the snow-fall of January 

 6th, 1886." 



The nest of the Black Redstart is usually placed, like that of the commoner 

 species, in holes in walls or clefts of rocks, but at other times on rafters in sheds 

 and outhouses, or niches and shelves in old castles or summer houses. No 

 particular effort is made to conceal it. The structure itself is externally rough 

 and loose, like that of the Robin ; being composed of twigs, bents, rootlets and 

 moss ; the lining is neat and well rounded, of hair and sometimes feathers and 

 cobwebs. The eggs number from four to seven, but usually five ; they are as a 

 rule pure glossy white, occasionally with a faiut bluish tinge and more rarely still 

 slightly brownish or minutely speckled at the larger end with brown. 



Now, although my &%%, when exhibited, was at once pronounced that of the 

 Black Redstart, it was unfortunately, found in a nest built in a hollow tree, and 

 it is believed that this species seldom, if ever, builds in such a situation. On the 

 other hand there is no reason why some of the considerable numbers of this 

 species which visit Great Britain when on migration should not remain to breed 

 with us. 



John Cordeaux, in the "Zoologist" for 1893, states that this species is a \&ry 

 frequent visitor at Flamborough Head; both in spring and autumn: in 1891, he 

 says, they came in battalions, first some on April 6th and again a great rush on 

 May loth and nth, scores of fine males being seen in hedges and gardens. Then 

 again, in the volume of the same publication for 1894, G. W. Bradshaw records 

 the fact that a male was shot at Niufield near Bexhill, on April loth. 



It therefore seems far from improbable that the discovery of the nest by a 

 lady in Dumfriesshire in 1889, an account of which was published in the 

 "Zoologist" for 1890 by Mr. O. Hammond, was genuine; he says: — 



"A lady, a near neighbour of mine, who is fond of observing birds, tells me 

 that about the i2tli of June last year, she found a nest of the Black Redstart 

 about half a mile from Maxweltou, in Dumfriesshire. The nest was in a stone 



