PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 339 



is extremely limited, and it is only known to breed in Co. Wicklow and Tyrone. 

 (For notes on the spread of this species in Scotland, see J. A. Harvie Brown and 

 T. E. Buckley, Vertebrate Fauna of the Moray Basin, i. p. 227.) [F. c. B. J.] 



3. Migration. The redstart is a summer visitor to many parts of the British 

 Isles, but in some others is only known on passage to and from these favoured 

 districts. In addition, a number of individuals are mere birds of passage to our 

 area as a whole, migrating, presumably between southern and northern Europe, 

 by way of the eastern seaboard of Great Britain. As a summer visitor the species 

 is with us from mid-April till September, although stragglers may be recorded 

 outside this period. The English breeding birds arrive from the Continent in 

 spring mainly on the south-eastern coasts, from which each successive " wave " 

 spreads rapidly inland over the country. The males appear a few days before 

 the females. The redstart is often taken at the lighthouse lanterns, and it fre- 

 quently migrates along with the wheatear ; there is indeed much in common 

 between the movements of the two species. (See further B. 0. C. Migration Reports, 

 i. pp. 28-30 ; ii. pp. 42-45 ; iii. pp. 50-53 ; and iv. pp. 57-60 ; and Nelson, B. of 

 Yorks., 1907, pp. 34-35.) [A. L. T.] 



4. Nest and Eggs. The nesting site is normally in a hole of a tree or wall, 

 but many instances are on record of its breeding in exceptional places, such as 

 among grass on the ground, under stones, in a flower-pot, a human skull, or an 

 old thrush's nest. Some nests are at a considerable height, while others are on 

 or only just above the ground level. The nest is slightly built of dry grasses, 

 fibre, strips of bark, rootlets, and a little moss, lined with horsehair and feathers. 

 (PI. xvi.) Whether the cock assists in its construction is not certain. The eggs, 

 usually 5 to 7 in number, rarely 8 or 9, are pale blue, generally without markings, 

 but occasionally spotted with red brown. (PI. C.) Average size of 100 eggs, 

 79 x -55 in. [18-28 x 13'9 mm.]. They are laid about the second or third week of 

 May as a rule, and incubation, which lasts 14 days (W. Evans, Ibis, 1892, p. 57), 

 appears to be carried on chiefly by the hen, but Naumann says that the cock 

 relieves her in the afternoon. Two broods are sometimes reared in the south, 

 but the majority are certainly single brooded in England. [F. c. R. J.] 



5. Food. Chiefly insects and their larvae, also spiders, worms, and berries. 

 The young are fed by both parents on insects and their larvae, and small worms. 

 [F. B. K.] 



6. Song Period. From April to June. Whether the song is resumed after 

 the moult is not recorded. [F. B. K.] 



