SYLVIAD^. 85 



with dull white ; the under parts of the latter 

 colour." 



The eggs are of a uniform greenish blue. 



REDSTART, Phosnicura ruticilla. The Redstart is 

 one of the brightest and prettiest of our summer 

 visitants. It arrives in this country about the middle 

 of April : my own notes of its arrival vary from the 

 16th to the 19th of April, and I have noticed its stay 

 as late as the 33rd of October. Mr. Blake-Knox 

 mentions two instances of the female having occurred 

 in Ireland during the winter.* It is not at all an 

 uncommon bird in this neighbourhood, where it is 

 usually called the " Firetail," and being conspicuous 

 from its bright colours and lively manners, is better 

 known than many more common birds. 



The Redstart generally frequents orchards and 

 gardens, where it appears to be of the greatest use 

 by the destruction of mischievous insects. Some 

 idea of the number of such things destroyed by birds 

 may be gathered from the following noje in the 

 'Zoologist' for 1863: "A pair of Redstarts who 

 have a nest in my garden have done me the greatest 

 service by devouring those pests of the garden, the 

 gooseberry grub. From frequent observations I am 

 convinced that a pair of Redstarts (during the time 

 their young require their attention) will destroy at 

 least six hundred grubs and caterpillars in a day/' 



* ' Zoologist' for 1866 (Second Series, p. 222). 



