BLACK REDSTART. 275 



obtained ; one at Bristol, the other at Brighton. In 

 January, 1833, a fourth example occurred at Teignmouth 

 in Devonshire ; and in December, 1835, a specimen was 

 shot near Bristol while flying about with some Stonechats 

 among furze. It has also been obtained, once at least, 

 in Ireland, on the concurrent testimony of Robert Ball, 

 Esq., of Dublin, and William Thompson, Esq., of Belfast. 



Since the publication of the first edition of this work, 

 Black Redstarts have been obtained in Cornwall, at Teign- 

 mouth in Devon, in the Isle of Wight, in Kent, and else- 

 where. 



This bird, according to M. Nilsson, is very rare in Swe- 

 den, and in the northern parts of the European Continent 

 generally, and is seldom seen in Holland ; it is, however, 

 rather a common summer visitor to Germany, France, and 

 Switzerland ; more plentiful in Provence, Spain, and Italy, 

 in which countries it is resident from April to October, occa- 

 sionally remaining in the south of Italy during the winter. 

 It is found at Corfu, Sicily, and Malta. M. Temminck says 

 it inhabits the Morea ; and Mr. Strickland observed that 

 it was common on the bare rocky hills near Smyrna, where 

 it also remains during winter. Drummond Hay, Esq., 

 included it in his list of the birds of Tangiers. The 

 specimen figured by Edwards in his twenty -ninth plate was 

 received from Gibraltar ; and the Prince of Musignano, 

 when at sea in the spring of 1828, being then five hundred 

 miles from Portugal and four hundred from Africa, ob- 

 tained a specimen of this bird, which was caught with some 

 other small birds on the rigging of the vessel, the wind at 

 the time blowing strong from the eastward. 



The manners and habits of this bird are somewhat similar 

 to those of the Redstart ; but it prefers stony places, and is 

 rarely seen on the plains. Its food consists of worms, 

 insects, in their various stages, the smaller fruits, and 



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