49 



THE REDSTART. 



Ruticilla phceuicurus (L.). 



The Redstart arrived along the whole of the south coast, but 

 the majority seem to have landed to the west of Hampshire, 

 although the earliest birds reported were from the eastern 

 end. These arrived in Kent and Sussex on the 9th of April, 

 and were followed by others farther west between the 12th 

 and 14th ; the record from one of the Yorkshire lights on 

 the 11th probably points to the passage northwards of some 

 of the eastern arrivals along the east coast, otherwise these 

 first-comers seem to have become thinly dispersed, mostly 

 over the southern half of England. There were indications 

 of a second arrival on the western half of the coast about 

 the 18th, as some of the gaps in the bird's distribution began 

 to fill up after that date, and its range became extended to 

 the northern counties and to Scotland during the following- 

 week. 



The third and fourth immigrations, which seem to have 

 contained a larger number of individuals, landed all along 

 the south coast on the 24th and 25th and on the 28th of 

 April, being recorded at the lights both in the Channel 

 Islands and in the Isle of Wight. Some of the easternmost 

 of these arrivals travelled north-east into East Anglia and 

 Lincolnshire, while the others passed north to the northern 

 Midlands, Lancashire, and Wales. On the 29tb/30th 

 Redstarts again occurred at the Channel Islands lights, 

 but no arrivals were recorded on the south coast, though 

 the records of passing birds both on the east and west sides 

 of the country during the following week indicated that 

 a further immigration must have occurred, On the 7th 



