294 ' BRITISH BIRDS. 



bright chestnut instead of huffish brown. This species is intermediate 

 in colour between R. tithys and R. rufiventris, which is found still further 

 east. 



As the Black Redstart very rarely occurs in Norfolk, and has not been 

 recorded from the Lincolnshire coast, it seems probable that the birds 

 which visit our islands come from Holland, where it is exceedingly common, 

 and follow the coast, choosing the shortest passage across the Channel. 



In Algeria the Black Redstart appears to be confined during the 

 breeding-season to a few chosen localities in the Djebel Aures ; Dixon 

 met with it in some of the rocky gorges there. He writes : — " It was to be 

 seen in the rapidly drying up beds of the mountain-streams, hopping about 

 from rock to rock, and sometimes perching on the storm-riven decaying 

 stumps of the old juniper trees. It was now and then seen in close company 

 with the charming little Bushchat {Pratincola moussieri), and, like that bird, 

 was somewhat shy, and, the moment it became aware that it Avas observed, 

 glided rapidly amongst the bushes and rocks and was soon lost to view. 

 I did not meet with this bird in the neighbourhood of the Arab houses or 

 near the towns at the base of these mountains ; and it seems that what 

 few birds do remain in Algeria to breed select some elevated locality. 

 I saw them at an altitude of nearly 6000 feet, the snow lying thickly 

 in places on the sides of Djebel Mahmel, less than a thousand feet above 

 them." 



The Black Redstart resembles the Robin very closely in its habits and 

 manner of life. It is an extremely familiar bird, and in most parts of 

 North Germany is common in the gardens and farmyards, perching on 

 the eaves of the houses, or on the apple-trees in the orchard, frequently 

 catching its food in the air like a Flycatcher, and sometimes seeking it on 

 the ground on the newly raked beds. It is very fond of perching on a 

 rail or a stump, and builds its nest, without the slightest attempt at 

 concealment, on the rafters in the farmbuildings, or on a ledge in a 

 summer-house. Its song is very simple, consisting only of three or four 

 melodious notes. Like the Robin it is constantly in the habit of drooping 

 its head and slightly lifting its wing, whilst the tail is suddenly jerked up 

 and half expanded. The Black Redstart is one of the first birds astir in 

 the morning ; and occasionally on a hot summer^s night, when, from some 

 cause or other, unable to sleep, I have heard its few rich notes through 

 the open window between two and three o'clock in the morning. In 

 spite of its predilection for gardens it is seldom seen in the woods. 

 When it is not found near houses, like the House-Martin, it seeks 

 the rocks. I found it breeding in the rocky valleys in the pine-region 

 of the Parnassus, 4000 feet above the level of the sea; and in winter 

 it is a very common bird on the rocky plateaux on the spurs of the 

 Pyrenees, where it may be constantly seen both on the rocks and on the 



