286 BRITISH BIRDS. 



Genus RUTTCILLA. 



The genus Ruticilla was established by Brehm in 1828, in the ' Isis/ 

 p. 1280. He designated R.phoenicurus (the Ficedula ruticilla of Brisson) as 

 the type. Most of the birds in this genus have the rump- and the tail- 

 feathers, except the two centre ones, chestnut. The culmen is short, not 

 more than one fourth the length of the tail, and the legs are always black. 

 All the male adult birds, except one species, have black or very dark-blue 

 throats. 



There are about thirteen species in the present genus, which are distri- 

 buted throughout the temperate portion of the Palsearctic Region and the 

 Highlands of the Himalayas, the number of species being greatest in the 

 latter district. Two species breed throughout temperate Europe, one of 

 w r hich is a regular summer migrant to the British Islands, and the other is 

 a regular though rare winter visitant to the south coast of England. One 

 other species has accidentally wandered as far as Heligoland. 



The Redstarts form a link between the Thrushes (through the Rock- 

 Thrushes) and the Chats, and are closely connected with the Robins 

 through the Bluethroats. They are birds more or less arboreal in their 

 habits, frequenting bushes and cultivated places, although one or two 

 species affect mountainous localities. They are sprightly, restless birds, 

 feeding chiefly on insects, many of which they secure on the wing. The 

 Redstarts are fair songsters. Their nests are very loosely put together, 

 made of dried grasses, feathers, moss, wool, hair, &c., and usually placed 

 in holes of trees and rocks. Their eggs, from five to eight in number, 

 range from pure white to pale blue, as a rule unspotted, although the eggs 

 of one or two species are sparingly marked with pale brown. 



