BLACK REDSTART. 295 



few stunted bushes which defy the blasts of the western gales from the 

 Bay of Biscay. 



The food of the Black Redstart is chiefly composed of insects, caterpillars, 

 and occasionally small garden fruits. 



According toNaumann the Black Redstart arrives in South Germany early 

 in March, and in North Germany during the latter half of the same month, 

 the autumn migration taking place throughout the month of October. It 

 breeds early iu May. On the 5th of May last I saw two nests, each contain- 

 ing eggs, in a summer-bouse in the garden of Dr. Blasius at Brunswick. In 

 a shed in the farmyard of Oberamtman Nehrkorn, at Riddagshausen, two 

 miles in the country, several nests were finished and ready for eggs ; and 

 on the 14th we took a nest with five eggs. On the 18th a fresh nest had 

 been made in the same place, and one egg had been laid. The nest of 

 the Black Redstart resembles that of the Robin, being a very large loose 

 structure outside, and inside extremely round and neat. This nest 

 measured 9 inches in diameter, and was 3 inches high, principally com- 

 posed of straw and stalks of plants, with a few twigs and a little moss, 

 some roots, cobwebs, and the flowers of the reed, and a little dried grass. 

 The nest-cavity was not in the centre, and was 2% inches in diameter and 

 1| inches deep, very carefully lined with horsehair, and with half a dozen 

 feathers neatly interwoven. On the 6th of May 1873 I took a nest of this 

 bird with four eggs in a recess on the moss-covered walls some yards within 

 the entrance of the celebrated cave in the Parnassus. It was composed 

 principally of green moss lined with goat's hair. Holes in walls and 

 ruins are also favourite situations for the nest. Curious situations are 

 sometimes chosen by this bird in which to build. At Bonn Dr. Sclater 

 and I found one built on a shelf in a compartment of one of the large 

 Rhine bathing-machines, after having watched the bird fly through the 

 window. It is said seldom or never to build in hollow trees. Sachse 

 says that two broods are always reared in a season. The alarm-note of 

 the Black Redstart is very similar to that of the Robin, a loud rapid tek- 

 tek-tek-tek. 



The usual number of eggs is five ; sometimes only four are laid; and six, 

 and even seven have been recorded. The colour is usually pure white ; 

 but sometimes there is the faintest tinge of brown, and a clutch in my 

 collection from Altenkirchen shosvs the faintest possible tinge of bluish 

 green. Dresser describes a clutch, also from Altenkirchen, which were 

 minutely spotted with brown at the large end. The eggs axe very finely 

 grained, and the surface polished. In length they vary from *83 to '7 inch, 

 and from 'G^to '56 inch in breadth. 



The adutt male Black Redstart is a very handsome bird, the general 

 colour being slate-grey, with brown wings margined with white on the 

 outside webs of the secondaries ; the two centre tail-feathers are also 



