The Redstart, 41 



valley in Kent : I was examining a tall roadside hawthorn hedge for nests, when 

 suddenly a small bird appeared, out of the field at the back, right in the centre 

 of an open part of the hedge its tail quivering laterall}-, with a remarkable 

 springy action quite new^ to me : at first I wondered what this lovel}^ little 

 creature could be ; and then, suddenly, its identit}- with the Redstart revealed its- 

 self, and the next minute it turned and flitted away. The flight is irregular, 

 jerky and not specially rapid, excepting when the bird is either startled or in 

 pursuit of prey ; in the latter case I know of no bird of its size which can equal 

 it in activity, or in its power of doubling ; the same ma^' also be said of the 

 male bird, when in pursuit of another of its own sex. 



The food of the Redstart consists of insects and their larvae, spiders, 

 centipedes and, towards autumn, of unripe corn and small fruits : most of its 

 prey is captured in the air and no insect pursued b}^ it has the least chance of 

 escaping : it will stop in midflight and poise itself, fluttering in one spot w-hilst 

 it seizes a sun- fly ; or, with equal ease, it will follow^ the wild zigzag wanderings 

 of the small white butterfly : in pursuit of spiders, it will rise up and down, like 

 the Humming-bird moth, before old moss-grown walls, searching every crevice 

 for the lu-rking victims ; an unwary centipede, projecting its head in a tentative 

 manner from behind a fragment of loosened bark, or running hurriedly from the 

 shelter of one boulder to another, is snatched up in a second and devoured ; if a 

 small green caterpillar crosses a woodland path, the Redstart darts obliquely 

 down as though hiirled from a catapult, alights for one second wdth quivering 

 expanded tail, and seizing its victim gives it a bang or two and swallows it. If, 

 however, the caterpillar is a large one, the bird either remains on the earth until 

 it has knocked it to a pulp, or carries it to a bi'anch and there, holding it by 

 the head, strikes it backwards and forwards across its perch : gnats and flies are 

 caught and swallowed on the wing. 



It has been said that the action of the Redstart's tail is vertical, not lateral ; 

 but certainly to my eye it is lateral and not vertical, and I have watched it in 

 an aviary for an hour at a time : the action bears no resemblance whatever to 

 that of either the Whinchat or Stonechat, but consists of a sudden lateral 

 springiness with a slight expansion of the feathers. I repeatedh' called the attention 

 of others to this abnormal tail-movement and everyone who sslw it agreed wdth 

 me that it was a vibrant wag. When the bird is at rest on a branch, every 

 thought of the little creature seems to be emphasized by a jerk, or an expansion 

 of the feathers. 



Nidification commences early in May, the site being just such as a Robin 

 would select ; a hole in a tree or wall, but sometimes a hollow gate post, or a 



