THE REDSTART 



RUTICILLA PH(ENICURUS 



LOCAL names in surrounding counties : " Firetail " 

 (Essex). 



STATUS IN BRITISH AVIFAUNA : A somewhat local 

 summer migrant to most parts of England ; much rarer 

 in Scotland, and abnormal in Ireland. 



RADIAL DISTRIBUTION WITHIN FIFTEEN MILES OF ST. 

 PAUL'S : The Redstart cannot be described as common 

 or even of frequent occurrence in the Metropolitan area. 

 There are few places where it breeds except in the most 

 remote suburbs, and even there the bird is a local one. 

 On migration it is sometimes noticed in Battersea, 

 Regent's, and Hyde Parks ; but it is more frequently 

 seen in the Wimbledon and Richmond districts, about 

 Kew and Bushey, Osterley, Acton, Wembley, the northern 

 woodlands (Hampstead, &c.), Epping, Wanstead, the 

 Kentish Grays, Croydon, Banstead, and Epsom. I have 

 seen it in Wimbledon Park during summer, and it is 

 said to have nested at Streatham and Dulwich. There 

 are many localities, of course, in which the Redstart may 

 be met with, but sufficient have been mentioned to 

 indicate its widespread yet local dispersal. A migrant 

 like the Redstart might be noticed almost anywhere 

 when on passage ; it is too conspicuous easily to be over- 

 looked, but the lack of records from many localities seems 

 to confirm the fact of its scarcity close to the city. 



The Redstart reaches the south of England early in 

 April, and it is during this month that examples are 

 occasionally seen in inner London, or during August and 

 September, when the return journey is made. Round 

 London its usual summer haunts are large gardens, 

 pleasure-grounds, the borders of woods and coppices, 

 and parks, especially those where old and hollow trees are 



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