or flies ere it seeks its perch again, displaying its rich plumage to perfection as 

 it hovers in the air. In summer, when the small fruits are ripe, the Redstart 

 varies its insect diet with vegetable food, and even picks the green corn from 

 the ears when it is soft and milky. 



The song of the Redstart is low and monotonous, and may be best 

 described as a weak imitation of the song of the Wren. On its arrival the 

 Redstart generally sings in the tree-tops, but later on the bird usually chooses 

 some lower perch not far from its nest. Very often it sings as it flies from 

 one perch to another, or as it flutters in the air, as if bent on catching insects. 

 In the dark of the summer evenings, and even at midnight, the song of the 

 Redstart may be heard in the stillness of the pine woods. The call-notes of 

 the Redstart are somewhat varied. Its everyday note is a sharp ' weet-tic-tic ' ; 

 in the pairing season the male has a low guttural song which is uttered 

 as he chases some rival through the branches. When the nest is in danger 

 a low plaintive ' whit, whit ' is uttered, rather like the call of the Willow 

 Wren. 



The Redstart nests in May. The nest is always placed in a hole, some- 

 times merely a hollow which barely holds the nest, or, it may be, many feet 

 from the entrance. The nesting cavity may be in a tree, either a hole in 

 some half-dead trunk or limb, or in some deep cleft between two branches. 

 Old walls and ruined buildings afford countless nesting-sites, while some- 

 times the nest is built in a hole in a steep bank or in a decayed tree-stump 

 overgrown with blackberry bushes or ivy. Most peculiar sites are often 

 chosen, gate-posts, flower-pots, old tin cans, letter-boxes, pumps, and such 

 like. Indeed, the Redstart is almost as well known as the Robin in this 

 respect. The nest itself is a rather untidy piece of work ; it is made of dry 

 grass, moss, wool, etc., and somewhat neatly lined with horse-hair and a 

 few feathers. 



From five to eight eggs are laid, though six is perhaps the usual number 

 found ; they are very like those of the Hedge-Sparrow, but are slightly greener 

 and paler in colour, and much more highly polished. They vary in length 

 from *8o to '69 inch, and in breadth from -56 to '49 inch. Only one brood 

 is reared in the year, but should the first nest be destroyed, the birds will 

 make another nest. 



