340 THE THRUSH FAMILY 



BLACK-REDSTART [Phcenicurus ochruros (Gmeliii). R. titys, Scopoli. 

 French, rouge-queue noir. German, Haus-Rotschwanz ; Italian, codirosso 

 spazzacamino. 



1. Description. Distinguished from the common redstart by its general black 

 and grey hue. The crown and rump are of dark bluish slate-grey, the tail and 

 upper tail-coverts a rich dark chestnut red, save the two middle tail-feathers, which 

 are black. The rest of the upper parts, and the sides of the head and the under 

 parts, with the exception of the hinder flanks and abdomen, deep velvet black, 

 abdomen and hinder flanks slate-grey, under tail-coverts pale rust-red. (PI. 44.) 

 Length 5'75 in. [146 mm.]. After the autumn moult the feathers are broadly 

 tipped with grey, giving the plumage a light slate-grey hue, save on the lower rump, 

 upper tail-coverts, and tail, which are red. The innermost secondaries have broad 

 fringes of white forming a conspicuous white patch, lost later by abrasion. The 

 female resembles the female of the common redstart, but may be distinguished by 

 her greyer coloration, the uniform mouse-colour of throat, breast, and flanks, the 

 rich buff of the under tail-coverts, and the mouse-grey colour of the axillaries. 

 The juvenile plumage resembles that of the adult female, therein differing con- 

 spicuously from the nestling plumage of the common redstart, [w. P. P.] 



2. Distribution. The race that visits our shores (Phoenicurus ochruros 

 gibraltariensis) is generally distributed over the Continent between the Mediter- 

 ranean and the North and Baltic Seas, but in the southern portions of its range 

 is chiefly confined to mountain ranges, and does not extend further east than 

 south-western Russia and possibly also the Crimea. Other races of the same 

 species are found in the Caucasus and Asia Minor, R. ochruros ochruros (Gm.), as 

 well as in Palestine, R. o. semirufa (H. and E.), Turkestan to Kashmir, R. o. phosnicu- 

 roides (Moore), and Tibet, Mongolia, etc., R. o. rufirentris (Vieill.). [F. c. R. J.] 



3. Migration. It is a fairly frequent visitor for varying periods, usually 

 in autumn and winter, to the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland, especially the 

 southern. It occurs also as a bird of passage (cf. Saunders, III. Man. Brit. B., 

 1899, p. 33 ; British Birds, i. p. 54 ; Ticehurst, B. of Kent, 1909, pp. 24-30 ; and 

 Nelson, B. of Yorks., 1907, pp. 36-37). [A. L. T.] 



4. Nest and Eggs. Although none of the supposed cases of the breeding 

 of this species in England will bear investigation, there seems to be no reason why 

 it should not occasionally nest with us. In inhabited districts the nest is usually 

 placed in a shed or some opening in a wall ; but where buildings are not available, 



