BRITISH SONG-BIRDS. 135 



THE REDSTART. 



SYLVIA PH^NICURUS; LATHAM. MOTACILLA PHtE- 



nicurus; linn^us. le rossignol du mu- 



raille; buffon. 



The plumage of this bird is beautiful, and its 

 shape elegant : Its motions are lively and quick, 

 and, though inferior in song to the three preceding 

 birds, yet, from the beauty of its plumage and the 

 sweetness of its warble, it is considered, by many, 

 a desirable bird for the cage : it is a migratory 

 bird, and, in many parts of this island, rather a 

 rare species. 



It visits us in April, and departs in September. 

 Its haunts are local. Montagu says it is rarely 

 found in Cornwall, and perhaps not farther west 

 than Exeter in Devonshii-e; and another author 

 observes, " that it is seldom seen farther to the 



