140 SAXICOLIN^E. RUTICILLA. 



75. RUTICILLA PH<ENICURUS. WHITE-FRONTED REDSTART. 



Male with the middle of the forehead white, its anterior 

 part, the cheeks, and throat, black ; the hind-head, neck, and 

 back deep ash-grey ; the breast, rump, and tail reddish-orange. 

 Female with the upper parts reddish-grey, the throat reddish- 

 white, the breast, rump, and tail reddish-orange. Young with 

 the upper parts brownish -grey, the forehead without white, the 

 throat lunulated with white, the red of the fore neck and 

 breast similarly variegated. 



Male, 5}, 9J, 3 T V, T 5 *, H, A> T V Female, 5 T v, 9 T V- 



This species bears a considerable resemblance to the White- 

 rumped Stonechat, in form, colour, and habits. It arrives from 

 the middle to the end of April, and departs in October. Ge- 

 nerally assuming a station on a stone or twig, and jerking out 

 its tail at intervals, it sallies forth in pursuit of insects, in the 

 manner of several other Saxicolinse and of the Flycatchers. 

 It is very partial to walls, and frequently places its nest in a 

 hole, or chink of one, but sometimes in the hole of a tree. It 

 is composed of fibrous roots and moss, and is plentifully lined 

 with hair. The eggs, six or seven, are of a light greenish- 

 blue colour, scarcely distinguishable from those of the Hedge 

 Chanter, although somewhat smaller, their length being nine- 

 twelfths, their breadth six-twelfths. The Redstart is exten- 

 sively distributed in Britain and Ireland. 



Redstart. Redtail. Firetail. 



Motacilla Phoenicurus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 335. Sylvia 

 Phcenicurus, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. i. 220. Ruticilla Phoeni- 

 curus, White-fronted Redstart, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, ii. 

 305. 



76. RUTICILLA TITHYS. BLACK-BREASTED REDSTART. 



Male with the upper parts greyish-blue ; the throat and 

 breast black, the rump and tail coverts brownish-red ; the tail 

 light red. Female greyish-brown above, light grey beneath, 

 the rump reddish -brown, the tail brownish-red. 



Male, B 6, . ., 3 T %, T \, 1, T ? , T V. Female, 5|. 



Individuals have been killed in various parts of England : 

 one at Kilburn, in October 1829 ; one near Bristol, in the 

 summer of 1830 ; another in the same vicinity, in December 

 1835 ; one at Brighton ; and one at Teignmouth in Devon- 

 shire. 



Black Redstart. Black Redtail. 



Sylvia Tithys, Lath. Ind. Ornith. ii. 512. Sylvia Tithys, 

 Temm. Man. d'Ornith. i. 218. Ruticilla Tithys, Black- 

 breasted Redstart, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, ii. 311. 



