BLACK REDSTART AS A BREEDING SPECIES. 421 



there has been no anthenticdteil inataace of t)ie Black Redstart 

 hreediiKj in the British Isles, with the possible exception of lian- 

 cock's record from Durham in 1845, which, however, requires 

 confirmation before it can possibly be accepted. It was tliere- 

 fore with conj^iderable surprise that I read in the ' Zoologist ' 

 for 1916, p. 237, a note from Mr. N. Orde Powlett, in which he 

 records the finding of a nest in a tin in a rubbish heap in the 

 middle of a field ! This is not an unlikely site for a Redbreasts 

 nest, but so improbable for that of the Black Redstart that in 

 itself it is enough to discredit the record. But when it is 

 added thtit the finder did not notice the birds at all, and Mr. 

 Orde Powlett did not go to the place till the day after, when the 

 eggs were broken and the nest occupied by a Toad, it makes the 

 confidence of the recorder even more remarkable. The Black 

 Redstart, although it frequently nests in outbuildings and sheds, 

 is remarkably wary, and like the Pied Wagtail, unwilling to 

 give away the site of its nest. Why these birds should have 

 continued to stay in the neighbourhood of their ruined nest, is 

 difficult to suggest, even supposing we grant that they were 

 correctly identified. Nothing is said about any second attempt 

 to breed in 1915, though this is the only cause which could have 

 induced the birds to stay there. 



Personally I am inclined to believe that the nest was that of 

 the Robin, but it has been suggested that possibly the birds seen 

 had escaped from captivity. This is rendered more probable 

 by the fact that this species has bred in Mr. W. E. Tesche- 

 maker's aviaries in Devonshire. Cage birds might possibly- 

 allow identification at close quarters in this way, but I see no 

 reason whatever for believing that the bird which laid the. eggs 

 in the tin was a wild Black Redstart. It would be interesting 

 to hear the report of some expert on the eggs, which there i& 

 every reason to believe will prove to be the white variety of our 

 Common Robin. I should not have written at such length on 

 this subject, but when a record has been allowed to stand- 

 unchallenged in print, it is difficult at a future time to prove its- 

 worthlessness, and in this case it is necessary that attention, 

 should be drawn to the extreme improbability of its correctness 

 at once, in order to avoid the perpetuation of error. 



