BRITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 229 



REDSTART. 



Description of Parent Birds. - - Length about 

 five and a quarter inches. Bill of medium length, 

 straight, and black. Irides hazel ; forehead white ; 

 crown, nape, back, scapulars, and wing-coverts deep 

 bluish-grey; wing-quills brown; rump, upper tail- 

 coverts, and tail-quills bright rusty red, with ex- 

 ception of the two middle feathers of the tail, 

 which are brown like the wings. Over the base of 

 the upper mandible, chin, cheeks, throat, and sides 

 of the neck black. Breast bright rust-colour, belly 

 paler, vent yellowish-white, under the tail red. 

 Legs, toes, and claws, dark brown. 



The female lacks the black and white on the 

 head ; has the upper-parts greyish-brown, tail duller, 

 and under-parts fainter. 



Situation and Locality. In holes in trees, 

 walls, thatches, rocks, and ruins ; occasionally in 

 such situations as inverted plant pots and disused 

 pumps ; sparingly distributed over England, Wales, 

 and Scotland, but rarely met with in Ireland. 

 Our illustration was procured in Norfolk. 



Materials. Dead grass, rootlets, and leaves, 

 with an inner lining of hair and feathers. 



Eggs. Four to six, occasionally eight, of a 

 pale bluish green, unspotted, and polished. Some 

 text-books say, sometimes with a few faint red 

 specks, but I have never found a clutch of eggs 

 marked in any way. Size about '75 by *54 in. 

 Situation of nest prevents confusion with Hedge 

 Sparrow. 



Time. May, June, and July. 



Remarks. Migratory, arriving in April and 

 leaving in September. Notes : song, pleasing and 



