CURIOUS MOTION OF THE TAIL. 97 



about, the nest is not easily discovered, even though it be known to 

 be near ; and when it is discovered, considerable liberties may be 

 taken with it, without making the birds desert it. 



Besides its singular vibrating motion, which appears as 

 if outwards and inwards, upwards and downwards, all at 

 the same time, the tail is a curious organ, and aids in very 

 peculiar leaps, or short flights ; when completely shut, it is 

 rounded at the extremity, so that the bird can thread 

 intricate places as the brake birds do ; when opened a little, 

 it is slightly forked, or rather terminates in two circular 

 lobes, so that the bird can wheel in the air ; and the sort 

 of rotatory motion that it has, and the oblique position in 

 which it can be exerted, enable the bird to change into 

 an echelon motion, the result of which is forward, sideways, 

 and upwards and downwards, all at the same time. The 

 straightforward flight is rather rapid, and all the motions 

 of the bird are graceful. 



Touching this peculiar motion of the tail, White observes : 

 * When Redstarts shake their tails, they move them hori- 

 zontally, as dogs do when they fawn ; the tail of a Wagtail, 

 when in motion, bobs up and down like that of a jaded 

 horse.' Blyth, however, remarks that this is an error, he 

 having noticed, with regard to these birds, both in a 

 wild state, and one of captivity, that ' They move their tail 

 perpendicularly, and not at all in the manner of a Wagtail, 

 the motion being rapid and of slight extent, and re- 

 peated after every movement of the bird; or the tail 

 sometimes hangs and shakes as if ready to fall off.' This 

 latter habit being, as he says, very characteristic of the 

 genus. With regard to the above discrepancy of opinion, 

 may we not say to the parties, * You both are right, and 

 both are wrong ? ' 



The Tree Redstart, as Neville Wood terms it, is, according 

 to that author, tolerably plentiful in every part of Britain, 

 except Wales, where, Montagu says, it never occurs. In 

 the north of Scotland, it is considered a rare bird, and 

 it is nowhere so abundant as in the midland and southern 

 counties of England. In Derbyshire it is very abundant 

 in its peculiar haunts, and is known to the country people 

 by the namea of 4 Redtail,' ' Firetail,' < Brandtail,' &c. 



