1658 THE PERCHING BIRDS 



black redstarts), we have known them to sing habitually upon the roof of a house, 

 exactly as the latter would have done. Leaving their breeding ground in early 

 autumn, stray birds of this species are often to be met with on the British coast at 

 that season when waiting for an opportunity of taking their departure. The adult 

 male, in summer, has the forehead pure white, the top of the head, scapulars, and 

 back leaden gray; the rump and upper tail coverts are bright chestnut, as is the tail, 

 with the exception of the two central feathers; the chin and throat being jet black 

 and the lower parts bright bay. 



The black redstart (-/?. titys] is a well-known bird in many parts of 

 (start entra i pr ur0 pe, frequently seen even in large cities. Modifying its 

 habits according to the region it inhabits, in Switzerland the black redstart breeds 

 chiefly about the chalets on the mountains, attaching itself to the neighborhood of 

 farm buildings, and obtaining most of its food around the outhouses. In Germany 

 it is quite a common garden bird, dwelling near human habitations, and generally 

 chanting its notes from the gable of a roof. It begins to sing very early in the morn- 

 ing, and continues until late in the evening; no bird being more self-conscious or 

 more frequently seen in a prominent position. The males are pugnacious and des- 

 perately jealous of rivals, although they do not perhaps take to fighting quite as nat- 

 urally as redbreasts. The nest is built of stems of grass, moss, and dry leaves, lined 

 with hair and feathers, thus forming a comfortable cradle for the young. The eggs 

 are white, and five or six in number. The female sits very closely during incuba- 

 tion, and when the young first leave the nest, the old birds continue their devotion 

 and cater for them with unremitting industry. The greater part of their food ap- 

 pears to consist of flies, at least during the finest period of the summer; and even 

 when they first leave the nest the young birds catch midges on their own account. 

 The young of the first brood generally have to be independent of their female parent 

 early, because, as soon as they are qualified to quit the mother, she lays a fresh 

 clutch of eggs, and it falls, therefore, to the male chiefly to feed the fledged young 

 of the first brood, and his usual practice is to take them to the top of a stone wall, 

 or some other sunny place within view of his favorite point of observation, and 

 gradually leave them to shift for themselves. The young that are reared late in 

 autumn have a harder struggle for existence, especially in Switzerland, where the 

 weather often breaks up in August. Black redstarts are birds that like fine weather, 

 and in stormy weather they are apt to become somewhat disconsolate, and sit mop- 

 ing, with their feathers puffed out. In the summer the species is home-loving 

 though certainly somewhat restless, and never seen in the same position for more 

 than half an hour at once. When the season for migration arrives, this redstart 

 loses, however, its domestic habits, becoming shy and unobtrusive, and setting forth 

 on its journey with a restless energy. Although never breeding in the British 

 Islands, many of these birds annually visit the southwestern parts of England dur- 

 ing the autumn, and even pass the winter under the shelter of cliffs or in the neigh- 

 borhood of houses. They generally arrive in Devonshire in parties of two or three 

 in the autumn, while those that winter in England assemble again in March on the 

 coast for their departure. The plumage of the adult male is a dark bluish gray 

 above, with a conspicuous white patch upon the wings; the forehead and throat are 



