on the Nesting of the Black Redstart. 295


“Casual in Scandinavia, once in Finland. Replaced by a nuiu-

“ ber of rather different forms in Caucasus, Armenia, Persia,

“ Syria, Transcaspia to Turkestan, Altai and Sayan Mountains,

“Central Asia generally and parts of the Himalayas to Tibet and

“ Mongolia.” It is a regular winter visitor to the south of

England, and especially to the south-western counties. Here

(Teignmouth) the Black Redstart may be occasionally seen on a

sunny winter’s day in some sheltered nook of the cliffs—indeed

the first Devonshire (and fifth British) specimen was killed here

in 1S33. Although Witherbv states that “ reports of its breed¬

ing here are not substantiated ” there appears to be fairly good

evidence to that effect. For instance, Bellamy reports an instance

from the neighbourhood of Exeter (Nat. Hist. S. Devon) and

Morris states that he received a nest and eggs from the neigh¬

bourhood of Longdon.


But although we are told that the Black Redstart is extend¬

ing its range, there is evidence that its visits to this country are

becoming rarer and not more frequent. If anyone doubts this

let him refer to Messrs. D’Urban and Mathew’s “ Birds of Devon,”

where he will see that in a single week of November, in the year

1843, no less than twenty were killed near Plymouth alone, and

more than twenty in 1850. One gallant gentleman by his own

unaided efforts slew no less than sixteen at Plymouth in Nov.,

1852 ! We may be quite sure that, if the collector could have

had his way, there would not be one single Blackstart upon the

face of the earth to-day, but, happily, two circumstances have

saved it from extermination—the inaccessibility of many of its

breeding-haunts and the protection extended to it in some

countries. The typical site for the nest of this species is perhaps

a crevice in a rocky ravine, high up amongst the Alps, not so

very far below their gleaming summits of eternal snow, and the

fact that the oldest males are to be seen at the highest nesting

stations, whilst the younger males in the grey plumage have to

be content with lower elevations, may be said to show that this

species seeks complete seclusion for its nesting operations. It

is singular, therefore, to find the Black Redstart in a large area of

Central and Southern Europe nesting in barns and sheds in close

proximity to human dwellings, and showing itself boldly in the



