iJO 



THE REDSTART. 



Ruticilla phoenicurus (L.). 



The arrival of the Redstart in this country took place along 

 the whole of the south coast, but in almost every case the 

 immigratory waves reached the south-eastern portion first and 

 were noticed in the west a day or two later. The first birds 

 were, however, recorded from one of the Isle of Man lights, 

 where several were seen on the night of the 29th/30th of 

 March, and on the following day one was noted in Devonshire. 

 These were, no doubt, merely the usual stragglers which herald 

 the migrations of almost every species. The first important 

 movement was noted in Suffolk and Kent on the 11th and 12th 

 of April ; by the 15th the first birds had reached Gloucester, 

 and a slight increase was recorded in Somerset. During the 

 two following days stragglers reached Cheshire, Cumberland 

 and Wales. A second wave commenced with the arrival of 

 male birds in Sussex on the 18th, and birds were also recorded 

 from Suffolk and Devonshire. There was a further increase 

 in Suffolk and Kent on the 21st and in Somerset on the 22nd, 

 while Redstarts w^ere noted at the Hampshire lights on the 

 night of the 22nd/23rd. Meanwhile the species had spread 

 as far north as Westmoreland, and by the 25th was well- 

 distributed over the west from Gloucester to Cumberland. 



The next immigration appeared in the south-east on the 

 30th of April and continued until the 5th of May, fresh 

 arrivals being reported between those dates in all the south- 

 eastern counties. Other records showed that the Redstart had 

 become pretty generally distributed throughout the country, 

 and though inland movements continued, no further arrivals 



