484 PERCHING BIRDS. 



with the exception of the two central feathers ; the chin and throat being jet black 

 and the lower-parts bright bay. 



The black redstart (R. titys) is a well-known bird in many parts 

 Black Redstart. . ^ . . > ... ,, ,.f . 



or Central Europe, frequently seen even in large cities. Modifying 



its habits according to the region it inhabits, in Switzerland the black redstart 

 breeds chiefly about the chalets on the mountains, attaching itself to the neighbour- 

 hood of farm-buildings, and obtaining most of its food around the outhouses. 

 In Germany it is quite a common garden-bird, dwelling near human habitations, 

 and generally chanting its notes from the gable of a roof. It begins to sing very 

 early in the morning, and continues until late in the evening ; no bird being more 

 self-conscious or more frequently seen in a prominent position. The males are 

 pugnacious and desperately jealous of rivals, although they do not perhaps take to 

 fighting quite as naturally as redbreasts. The nest is built of stems of grass, 

 moss, and dry leaves lined with hair and feathers, thus forming a comfortable 

 cradle for the young. The eggs are white, and five or six in number. The female 

 sits very closely during incubation ; and when the young first leave the nest, the 

 old birds continue their devotion, and cater for them with unremitting industry. 

 The greater part of their food appears to consist of flies, at least during the finest 

 period of the summer; and even when they first leave the nest the young 

 birds catch midges on their own account. The young of the first brood 

 generally have to be independent of their female parent early, because, as 

 soon as they are qualified to quit the mother, she lays a fresh clutch of 

 eggs; and it falls, therefore, to the male chiefly to feed the fledged young of 

 the first brood, and his usual practice is to take them to the top of a stone 

 wall, or some other sunny place within view of his favourite point of observation, 

 and gradually leave them to shift for themselves. The young that are reared late 

 in autumn have a harder struggle for existence, especially in Switzerland, where 

 the weather often breaks up in August. Black redstarts are birds that like fine 

 weather ; and in stormy weather they are apt to become somewhat disconsolate, 

 and sit moping, with their feathers puffed out. In the summer the species is home- 

 loving though certainly somewhat restless, and never seen in the same position for 

 more than half an hour at once. When the season for migration arrives, this red- 

 start loses, however, its domestic habits, becoming shy and unobtrusive, and setting 

 forth on its journey with a restless energy. Although never breeding in the British 

 Islands, many of these birds annually visit the south-western parts of England 

 during the autumn, and even pass the winter under the shelter of cliffs or in 

 the neighbourhood of houses. They generally arrive in Devonshire in parties of 

 two or three in the autumn ; while those that winter in England assemble again 

 in March on the coast for their departure. The plumage of the adult male 

 is a dark bluish grey above, with a conspicuous white patch upon the wings; 

 the forehead and throat are black; the tail is chestnut, tipped with blackish 

 brown, excepting, of course, the two central tail-feathers, which are blackish 

 brown throughout; the breast and lower -parts being slaty grey. The female 

 and young males have the upper-parts brownish grey, and lack the black throat 

 of the adult male ; the males of the year breeding in the grey plumage just 

 described. 



