THE BL UEBREA ST. 79 



rose. It begins its song early in the morning, and often continues it 

 late in the evening, when most other birds have gone to rest; the 

 slightest noise or stir near the spot will stay its music. 



Mr. J. D. Hoy, a Suffolk naturalist, who has had opportunities of 

 studying the habits of this bird on the Continent, says that it makes 

 its appearance early in the spring, preceding the Nightingale ten or 

 twelve days; in the breeding season it frequents low swampy grounds, 

 on the woody borders of boggy heaths, and on the banks of streams 

 that flow through moist meadows, where there is plenty of alder and 

 willow underwood, near to or amid which the nest is generally placed 

 on the ground among plants of the bog myrtle, or amid coarse 

 grass; sometimes it is on the sides of sloping banks, well clothed 

 with vegetation, or in the scraggy brushwood of moist bottoms. The 

 nest, which is closely hidden and difficult to discover, is composed of 

 dead grass and moss, lined with finer grass; the eggs are from four 

 to six in number, of an uniform greenish blue colour, a good deal 

 like those of the Hedge Sparrow. The notes of the bird resemble 

 those of the Whin chat, but they are more powerful; Bechstein com- 

 pares the song to that of the Common Wagtail, with the addition of 

 a deep humming sound, like the vibration of a string, with which it 

 commences. 



In appearance this bird presents many points of resemblance to 

 both the Redstart and the Wagtail, forming as it were a link between 

 the two; its usual length is about five inches and a half, of which 

 the tail takes up two inches and a quarter: the sharp -pointed beak 

 is blackish, with yellow corners, the iris is brown, the feet flesh- 

 coloured, the claws dusky; the head, back, and wing coverts are 

 brown, sprinkled with grey; a reddish white line passes over each 

 eye; the cheeks are a rusty brown, bordered with dark grey; the 

 throat and half way down the breast are dark azure blue, with a 

 small white spot shining out of it, like a star, the brightness of which 

 seems to increase when the bird is excited, as while singing; there 

 is a blackish border around the blue, and an orange streak beyond 

 this; the belly is dingy white, the shanks and sides reddish grey. 



