2020 . The Zoologist— Fkbuuaky, 1870. 



brreding plumage of Dr. Brep, I cannot for a momeiil tliink it lias seasonal pluniafres. 

 The young male after the autumnal moult is like the old m-ile, bul, as in all or most 

 j'oung birds the inlen-^iiy of tlie culi>ur is subdued or liid by the e.\tia> agaiit depth of 

 the fringes of the feathers, but wliicli shines forth as tlie frini;e gradually wears a«ay. 

 I have never, even in young birds, found this fringe at all sufficient to hide the dis- 

 tinctive colouring of the male : the bulk of observation lias been made on S. phoeni- 

 curus. I think M. Degland clearly sliows iheve is no spring inouli, and that S. Cairii 

 breeds in the plumage of Cairii, and that S. Tithys does not change from the plumage 

 of Cairii to that of Tithys in ihe spring: that observer, refeirini? lo S. Cairii, says, 

 " This bird l)reeds in iis autumn plumage, which it never changes at any period of the 

 year. Every research which has been made in the spring to find a bird in intermediate 

 plumage ha"; been in vain. Now if S. Tithys had been found in spring in intermediate 

 plumage,— that is, changing frou) ihe supposed winter plumage of Dr. Bree, which, 

 bear in mind, is similar to S. (!airii, to that of the true male black redstart plumage, 

 which Dr. Bree thinks only pertains lo the breeding season of S. Tithys, — how could 

 the coiitinenlal naturalists determine such a bird fiom the gray redstart (S. Cairii), 

 making the change to the black plumage of summer? T infer from this that neither 

 S. Cairii nor S. Tithys make any change in spring; but that, like the stonechat, 

 furzechat and whealear, they carry the same i)luniage win'er and summer. Certainly 

 if the male of S. Cairii breeds in C.iirii plumage, with such different habits as natu- 

 ralists describe, it must undoulitedly he a true species or a distinct race. I feel no 

 doubt that S. Cairii has occurred to me in winter in this county. Many years ago 

 I had a bird caged that I could not call the female of eillier of our redstarts : it 

 appeared at once a male bird by its pure plumage and energetic haliits : its colour was 

 a pure zinc-gray, and not the brown or smoky gray of the female redstarts: its tail 

 and upper tail-coverts were much brighter red than those of an old male black redstart, 

 and the abdominal region more white. During an absence from home it died. Before 

 I commenced stuffing, or imlced thought of furniing a collection, I used the red tails 

 of County Dublin black redstaits for making lishiiig-flies. One snowy winter a groom 

 of ours shot ten or twelve for this purpose, most of them black, but others pale zinc- 

 gray birds, with brighter tails than male black redstarts, and purer coloured bodies 

 than female birds: they chiefly frequented dung-hills, the ground being sn'iW-bound: 

 there were many more seen this year that were not killed. I still possess a head of 

 one of these old male black redstarts, and till lately many red lail-ffathers, but of the 

 supposed S. Cairii I have no trace, except in memory, and that their tails made the 

 brightest flies. Since then I have added males of S. Tithys (shot in mid-winter) lo 

 my collection, hut neither females nor birds supposed to be S. Cairii. In previous 

 numbers of the 'Zoologist' (Zool. 8034, 8445, 9133) I have recorded occurrences 

 of the black redstart in this comiiy. — //. Blake-Kno.v. 



Titmouse's Neil in a Letter-box. — In the spring of 1863, while I was absent from 

 home with my family, and the postman, in consequence, came bul seldom to the house, 

 a lilue tit took possession of my letter-box, and built its nest in it, going in and out by 

 the slit in the door, against which the box was attached. The bird covered the whole 

 boUom of the box with moss and hay and feathers, and when I returned home there 

 were four eggs in the nest; but in consequence of the necessary inttrrupiioiis which 

 our return occasioned the nest was forsaken. I have the four egirs still in my possession. 

 — Edward J, Moor ; Great Bralings Rectory, Woudbridgf, Suffolk, November 3, 1869. 



