28 



occurring at Senegal; and Mr. F. DuCane Godman writes (Ibis, 1872, p. 176) that it occurs in 

 the Canaries and at Madeira ; and it is also said by Berthelot to inhabit Teneriffe. 



To the eastward the present species can, so far as I can ascertain, be traced with certainty only 

 to Persia, where, according to De Filippi, it breeds in the royal gardens at Kazvin. Specimens 

 have also been received from Erzeroum and Trebizond; and Mr. Blanford has lent to me for 

 examination the skin of a female obtained by Major St. John at Shiraz in December 1870. 

 It is stated to have been met with in India ; but I have been unable to trace and examine any 

 specimen obtained there. One which was obtained at Saharunpore by Dr. Jameson is said to be 

 in the India-House Museum ; but as no access is permitted to that collection, it is impossible to 

 decide whether the specimen is really our European Redstart or one of the allied Indian species. 

 On the whole I am greatly inclined to doubt if the present species has ever occurred so far east 

 as India. It has likewise been recorded as inhabiting Siberia ; but out of numbers of Redstarts 

 I have seen from various parts of that country, I have never found one which I could refer to 

 the present species, and think it at least very doubtful if it really has ever been met with there. 



In its habits the Redstart is sprightly and active, and is continually on the move, either in 

 search of food or else with apparently no particular object in view for the moment, except a 

 disinclination to remain quiet. It is quarrelsome, and may often be seen squabbling with some 

 other warbler or one of its own species ; and, like the Redbreast, the male rarely brooks an 

 intruder in the domain it has chosen. Though often seen in gardens in the immediate neigh- 

 bourhood of houses, it is by no means so tame or confiding as the Redbreast, but always, to 

 some extent, shy and suspicious. It has a peculiar habit of keeping its tail in almost continual 

 motion. Every time it rests for a second when hopping on the ground or through the branches 

 the tail is moved up and down, the movement not being at all sideways. Irrespectively of its 

 bright plumage, this peculiar habit of moving its tail makes it easily recognizable at a consider- 

 able distance. Its song is sweet and flute-like, but comparatively feeble, and consists of only 

 three strophes ; in general tone it is rather melancholy. It is said to sing more continuously on 

 dull days and before rain ; but personally I have not found this to be the case. Macgillivray 

 says that " the song is sometimes emitted while the bird hovers on the wing, and even while it 

 flies from one station to the other ; it is heard in fine weather at early dawn, as well as in the 

 evening twilight, and at all intermediate hours, although, being neither loud nor attractive by its 

 characters, it is little noticed." Its call-note is a clear whistle, which is sometimes followed by 

 one or two short sharp notes. It feeds on flies, gnats, small butterflies, and various kinds of small 

 coleopterous and other insects, caterpillars, &c. It is exceedingly active in catching flies on the 

 wing, and does so with almost as great facility as the common Flycatcher. It seldom hops 

 about on the ground much in search of food, but hunts amongst the foliage, or else, as above 

 stated, catches flies on the wing. On the Continent the Redstart is often caught and let loose in 

 a room to catch the gnats and flies; and Count Casimir Wodzicki states (J. f. O. 1853, p. 298) 

 that one he let loose in his room and watched for an hour caught in that space of time six 

 hundred of those insects, or on the average ten per minute, thus showing how large a number of 

 insects can be destroyed by a single bird. 



The Redstart commences nidification late in April or early in May ; and I have usually taken 



