120 THE SPECIES 



summer its head and neck are spotless white ; in winter they are grey, ITie full grown 

 birds have yellowish bills, the young ones have black bills, and their tails have a black band. 

 The nests are in colonies on ledges of rock, aiid consist of seaweed, grass, and feathers. 

 They contain from two to four eggs. 



Ruticilla. Plate ii. TURDINM (Passeridae). 



17. phcenicuruSf 5^ in. Redstart. Forehead white; back dark grey; 



rump chestnut ; throat black ; breast chestnut red ; 

 legs black ; bill black. 



18. titys, si in. Black Redstart. Forehead black ; back dark 



grey ; rump chestnut ; throat black ; breast black ; 

 legs black ; bill black. 



The Redstart — Dimensions, Cg ; Eggs, Bs — is one of the handsomest of our summer 

 migrants, and is regularly here from April to September. It is the Red-tail — ^Start being 

 Steort, the Old English for tail. Its tail is always on the jerk, for the bird is never still, and 

 even its flight is jerky and irregular. It sings on the wing and when perching, but the song 

 is not very elaborate. The call is ** wheet." The female is dull brown above, with a good 

 deal of white on the chest. The nest is found everywhere, and is built of grass, moss, and 

 roots, lined with hair, wool, and feathers, and contains from four to seven eggs. 



The Black Redstart— Dimensions, Cs ; Eggs, Di — is a winter visitor. It is often called 

 the Blackstart, which it is not, for its tail is red. It is rather quicker and easier on the wing 

 than the Redstart. Its second primary is equal to its seventh, while the Redstart's second 

 is equal to its sixth. 



Saxicola. Plate ii. TURDINM {Passeridae). 



13. stapazina, 5^ in. Black-throated Wheatear. Throat black ; 



tail black and white. 



14. deserti, 6 in. Desert Wheatear. Throat black ; tail black. 

 12. cenanthe, 6| in. Wheatear. Throat white; t^l black and white. 



A Black-throated Wheatear— Dimensions, Cj ; Eggs, Dl— was shot here on one occasion 

 only. This was at Bury, in Lancashire,^ in 1875. Another Wheatear, S. isabellina^ was once 

 found here at Allonby, in Cumberland, in 1887, but our list is quite long enough without it. 



The Desert Wheatear— Dimensions, Dl ; Eggs, Br— has once or twice straggled here from 

 the Sahara, or else escaped from captivity. 



The Wheatear— Dimensions, Ef ; Eggs, Dk— is one of our earliest summer migrants, and 

 stayswiih us from March to October. Its bill is black and broad, and bristly at base ; and 

 its axillaries have a mottled look owing to the white feathers having grey centres. Its 

 under wing coverts are black and white. The flight is a low and dipping one; it generally 

 begins from a wall on which the bird will always perch if it can, and it ends in a characteristic 

 hopping. The call is **chack, chack"; the song, often given on the wing, is a monotonous 

 twitter. The female differs from the male in being brown above, and having a buff eye- 

 stripe. The nest is on the ground, or in a hole in a low wall, or under a stone ; it is a loo'^e 

 collection of grass and moss, lined with fur, hair, wool, and feathers, and contains from four 

 to eight eggs. 



Scolopax. Plate xxvii. SCOLOPACID^. 



308. rusticola, 14 in. Woodcock. Breast thickly barred with brown ; 



26 remiges, 9 primaries, with webs obscurely barred ; 



first primary longest ; tail tipped with grey above 



and silver below. 

 The Woodcock— Dimensions, Lp \ Eggs, Lp— is now claimed as a resident, whose numbers 

 are enormously augmented by the migrants arriving in October. The woodcock rises with a 

 whirr, and flies with bent wings, and his beak pointed down. The flight is a straight one 

 with an occasional yaw, and not particularly fast. The call has been syllabised as *' vessop." 

 In the male the first primary is spotted, in the female it is plain. The nest is a hollow in the 

 ground, lined with a few dead leaves. There are four eggs, which curiously enough are 'not 

 pyriform, although Scolopax is the type of the Scolopacidae. 



Scopa. Plate xiii. STRIGID^. 



168. giu, 'jI in. Scops Owl. Facial disk obsolete above ; 



plumicorns small ; bill black ; no operculum , 



plumage greyish brown above ; greyish white below ; 



22 remiges, fourth primary longest ; legs featheriid ; 



toes bare and brown. 



The Scops Owl— Dimensions, Gk ; Eggs, Hh— is our smallest owl, but is only an occasiona,' 



straggler amongst us. The call is the "giu" from which comes its name. The female is 



redder than the male, and, of course, larger 



