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nest the young were naked, with only a little blackish down on the head ; but in ten days' time 

 they were covered with feathers. I sat down close to the building to watch the old birds ; but 

 for some time they kept away, every now and then flying near and uttering their harsh alarm- 

 note. At last the female approached, carrying a large worm, and, after passing and repassing 

 several times, flew up to the nest. Both male and female assisted in feeding the young ; but the 

 former was much more cautious than the latter, and generally transferred what he brought to 

 the female, who took it to the nest, whilst he went out foraging again. In its movements the 

 present bird is exceedingly sprightly and active, reminding one somewhat of the Robin. When 

 sitting it holds itself erect, every now and then giving its tail a slight flirt. Its call-note and 

 song very closely resemble those of the common Redstart ; but any one who knows the note of 

 each species well can distinguish them. 



Throughout almost the whole of Central and Northern Europe, as well as South-eastern 

 Europe, the Black Redstart is a summer resident, arriving in the spring and leaving in the late 

 autumn ; but, curiously enough, it is a winter visitant to us in Great Britain. 



Mr. J. Gatcombe, who for long has carefully noted the various instances of its occurrence in 

 the neighbourhood of Plymouth, writes to me that " Black Redstarts are regular winter visitors 

 to the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, arriving (generally) the first week in November, and 

 departing at the end of March or beginning of April, although on one occasion I observed them 

 so early as the last week in October. They frequent the rocks along the coast above high-water 

 mark, now and then hopping and flitting from place to place on the grassy slopes on the summit 

 of the cliffs, and taking short excursions in the air in pursuit of various insects, which they catch 

 with marvellous dexterity — then, making for a stone, turf, bank, or any eminence on which to 

 alight, will, after the characteristic sudden dip of the body and jerk or shake of the tail (the 

 lateral feathers of which are slightly expanded), be off again in an instant. Many of their actions 

 also bear a strong resemblance to those of both the Wheatear and Robin. Quarries in the 

 vicinity of the sea, ramparts of fortresses, garden-walls, and stone buildings of any kind appear 

 attractive to them. They may also be seen on church-towers and in churchyards flitting about 

 on the tombstones, from which they make frequent sallies into the air after flies in the manner 

 of the Flycatcher. I once took from the gullet of one a kind of marine crustacean, about an 

 inch long, called IAgia oceanica, in form resembling an immense ' woodlouse,' and which may so 

 often be seen running about on rocks and walls close to the sea. They are also partial to the 

 vicinity of old stone arches and caverns, in which they will immediately hide when pursued, and 

 remain concealed for a length of time — or, if wounded, will make for the first hole, crevice, or 

 any place of concealment, be it ever so small. The old Black Redstarts I have generally found 

 to be exceedingly shy and wary ; but the young are more easily shot : however, both will some- 

 times lead you a ' pretty dance' over rugged rocks and precipitous cliffs; and the cunning they 

 display in trying to evade pursuit is quite wonderful. After pursuing one for miles over the 

 rocks, on the tops of which it would only for an instant alight, I have known it to suddenly 

 hide, and, allowing me to pass on out of sight, would then double back to the same locality from 

 which it was at first disturbed. Thus in this fatiguing chase have I been led backwards and 

 forwards for hours together, and ultimately obliged to give in. They occasionally perch on 

 bushes ; and I have, in some instances, known them to hide in thickets or brakes on the faces of 



