COMMON REDSTART. 119 



appear tp us very marked both in form and in 

 habits. Ph&nicura naturally leads from the 

 Robins, and as, in the last sub-family, we saw an 

 arboreal form, allied to the Nightingale warblers, 

 so among these have we the Redstart, blending 

 into the habits of the Saxieolse. They feed on 

 fruits as well as upon insects. 



PHGENICURA, Swainson. Generic character. 

 Bill straight, rather slender, depressed, 

 and rather dilated at the base ; rictus with 

 weak bristles ; wings with the first quili 

 very short, the third and fourth nearly equal 

 and longest; tarsi rather lengthened, and 

 with the feet slender. 



Types, ph. ruticilla, atrata. 



Note. Europe, India. Tail generally coloured 

 red or rufous. 



COMMON REDSTART PHCENICURA RUTICILLA, 

 Sivainson. Ruticilla, Will. Ray. Sylvia 

 phcenicura, Lath. Motacilla phvenicura, Linn. 

 Redstart, Redtail of British authors. This 

 clean and chastely coloured bird is of local 

 distribution, and except in some of the southern 

 counties of England, it can scarcely be called of 

 common occurrence. It extends, nevertheless, 

 to the northern parts of Scotland, and over the 

 width of the mainland occasional pairs may gene- 

 rally be met with ; in one or two districts it is 

 plentiful, but in others, as remarked by Mr Selby, 



