THE REDSTART. 



RUTICILLA PHCENICURUS. 

 THE REDSTART. 



(PLATB 9.) 



Ficedula ruticilla, Brut. Orn. iii. p. 403 (1766). 



Motacilla phoenicurus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 335 (1766) ; et auctorum plurimorum 



( Temminck), (Bonaparte), (Gray), (Hartlaub), (Loche), (Gould), (Newton), 



(Dresser), (Stanford), &c. 



Sylvia phoenicurus (Linn.), Lath. Gen. Syn. Suppl. i. p. 287 (1787). 

 Saxicola phoenicurus (Linn.), Koch, Syst. baier. Zool. i. p. 188 (1816). 

 Ficedula phoenicurus (Linn.), Boie, Isis, 1822, p. 553. 

 Phcenicura muraria, Swains. fy Itich. Faun. Bor.-Amer. ii. p. 489 (1831). 

 Ficedula ruticilla. Eyton, Cat. Brit. B. p. 10 (1836). 

 Phcenicura ruticilla (Eyton), Gould, B. Eur. ii. pi. 95 (1837). 



Ruticilla phcenicura (Linn.), Bonap. Comp. List B. Eur. and X. Amer. p. 15 (1838). 

 Lusciola phcenicurus (Linn.), Keys. u. Bias. Wirb. Eur. pp. Iviii, 191 (1840). 

 Erithacus phoenicurus (Linn.), Degl. Orn. Eur. i. p. 502 (1849). 

 Luscinia phcenicurus (Linn.), Sundev. Sv. Fogl. p. 59 (1856). 



This handsome little bird is of somewhat local distribution in the British 

 Islands, and can nowhere be said to be of very common occurrence. Its 

 Robin-like appearance, short and pleasing song, bright plumage, and 

 regularity of appearance in the early spring combine to make it a general 

 favourite. It breeds regularly, although locally, in all the counties of 

 England and "Wales, but becomes rarer in the west, and is commonest in 

 the south. In Scotland it is found, though still more sparingly and locally, 

 up to Caithness, and occasionally in Shetland ; but in the Hebrides it is 

 not known. In Ireland the bird may virtually be said to be absent, a few 

 instances only being on record of its occurrence, apparently merely acci- 

 dental. The Redstart breeds throughout Central Europe as far north as 

 the Arctic circle. In South Europe it is rarely seen, except on spring 

 and autumn migration, although a few remain to breed at high elevations, 

 usually selecting the pine-regions for this purpose. It winters in North 

 Africa. In Asia its range during the breeding-season extends eastwards 

 as far as the valley of the Yenesay ; and the winter home of these Asiatic 

 birds appears to be in Persia. 



As the Wheatear is the tenant of the cairns, the rocks, and the ruins 

 of the wilds, in like manner the Redstart may be designated a bird 

 of the ruins and the rocks in the lower, warmer, and more cultivated 

 districts. Vou will find it in orchards and gardens, about old walls, and 

 in the more open woods and shrubberies. Another favourite haunt of the 

 Redstart is old crumbling ruins, abbeys and castles, on whose battlements 



