A HAND-LIST OF BRITISH BIRDS. 89 



DANDALUS RUBECULA* 



184. Dandalus rubecula rubecula (L.) THE CONTINENTAL 

 REDBREAST. 



MOTACILLA RUBECULA Linnaeus, Syst. Nat.,ed. i, p. 188 (1758 "Europa." 



Restricted typical locality : Sweden). 



Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus), Yarrell, i, p. 305 (part) ; Saunders, p. 37 



(part). 



DISTRIBUTION. Great Britain. Few identified specimens have 

 been recorded. In spring has been noted St. Catherine's Light 

 (Isle of Wight) between March 25 and April 23. In autumn on 

 east coast from Yorks. to Suffolk between Sept. 14 and Nov. 4, in 

 Sussex in Oct., and at St. Catherine's Light between Oct. 23 and 

 Dec. 11. In Scotland has been noted on spring and autumn passages 

 in Fair Isle (Shetlands), where it also winters in small numbers. 

 Has also occurred Mull of Galloway, Nov., and Isle of May, Oct. 

 The Robins occurring often in great numbers on passage in 

 Shetlands are probably also of this form. 



DISTRIBUTION. Abroad. Europe generally up to 68* north from 

 France to Urals, west Siberia and west Turkestan, Madeira, Azores, 

 some of the Canaries, wintering in Persia, and Mediterranean 

 countries to oases of Sahara. Replaced by allied forms in Sardinia 

 and Corsica, in north-west Africa, on Tenerife and Gran Canaria, 

 north Persia and Caucasus. 



185. Dandalus rubecula melophilus (Hart.) THE BRITISH 

 REDBREAST. 



ERITHACUS RUBECULA MELOPHILUS Hartert, Nov. Zool., 1901, p. 317 

 (British Isles). 



Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus), Yarrell, i, p. 305 (part) ; Saunders, p. 37 

 (part) ; E. r. melophilus, Hartert, Brit. B., i, p. 219. 



DISTRIBUTION. Confined to British Isles. British Isles. Resident. 

 Generally distributed, but scarce in extreme north of Scottish 

 mainland and in Orkneys, and apparently absent from Shetlands 

 (passage-migrants in Shetlands are probably D. r. rubecula} ; sparingly 

 distributed North Uist and Lewis, and has bred Barra since 1892, 

 but not in other O. Hebrides. (Single birds, of which race not 

 recorded, have occurred occasionally Flannan Isles, spring and 

 autumn.) 



MIGRATIONS. British Isles. A considerable movement of 

 individuals, southward in autumn and northward in spring, occurs, 



* If the Robins are separated generically their name must be Dandalus, 

 as Erithacus cannot be used, the genotype of the latter being Motacilla erithacus, 

 which is the Redstart ; moreover Cuvier's name in this case must be regarded 

 as a nomen nudum. E.H. 



