54 



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NEST AND EGGS OF THE REDSTART. 



PLATE LIV. 



The Redstart makes her nest in walls, crevices of 

 rocks or hollow trees : the materials are moss, dried 

 herbs, wool, and feathers. The nest, now before me, 

 consists, for the most part, of various kinds of moss, 

 with here and there a little wool mixed amongst it, 

 and is loosely bound together with dried blades and 

 stalks of grass. The lining is of red cow's hair, with 

 a few feathers laid upon it. The eggs are five or six 

 in number; blue, with a cast of green, and destitute of 

 spots. The Redstart is one of our summer visitors ; 

 comes in April and leaves us in September. The Cock 

 sings pleasantly in breeding time ; his song nearly re- 

 sembles that of the Redbreast, but is lower and not so 

 well varied. 



What is recorded by Ray and others concerning the 

 sullenness of this bird, I have not, on trial, found to 

 be true. 



