Birds. 637 



as he said, the bird was " only a black robin " ! It is equally true 

 that the man, on whose grounds the birds were most frequently seen, 

 did on one occasion say, " How proud Mr. Dawson would be to have 

 them birds ; " and it is as true that he did actually bid his boy set a 

 trap for them ; and declared he would shoot them himself, but was 

 afraid of spoiling them ! — and yet no information was given in " the 

 right quarter!" " The proper authorities were left in utter ignorance 

 of all that was going forward, until the birds had apparently taken 

 their departure ; that is, until four days after they were last seen. 

 Then indeed two days were consumed by my friend, and one by my- 

 self, in fruitless search ; and we had nought to do but bear our disap- 

 pointment as best we could. I think I may take the credit of evincing 

 the larger share of equanimity on this trying occasion : though per- 

 haps the fact of my already possessing a pair of these rare birds did 

 much for the preservation of my temper : and, moreover, if I obtain- 

 ed not the birds, I learned somewhat of their habits, which I will pro- 

 ceed to detail ; first premising, by way of moral to this long tale, and 

 of apology for telling it, a word of advice to brother naturalists on the 

 desirableness of using freely their tongues, as well as their eyes, in 

 their researches : for they know not what treasures may exist in their 

 immediate vicinity, which their unsophisticated neighbours are aware 

 of, but do not give themselves the trouble to mention. 



I have not met with any account of the habits of the black redstart 

 more full than that given by Mr. Yarrell ; who says, " The manners 

 and habits of this bird are somewhat similar to those of the (common) 

 redstart ; but it prefers stony places, and is rarely seen in the plains." 

 My male specimen was shot on the chalk cliffs on the sea coast ; and 

 was shy and difficult of approach. The female I found on a field of 

 young wheat, some half-a-mile from the sea : it also appeared to be 

 shy. But the account given by numerous independent witnesses of 

 the winter residents at Sandown goes to prove them of a more domes- 

 tic character : they were, in fact, as tame as robins, or nearly so. 

 They remained almost constantly about one or other of two houses ; 

 they would perch on the roof, and more than once the male was seen 

 on the window-sill, and once entered the room. He (for the female 

 seems, as was likely, to have escaped general observation) would hop 

 about close to labourers at work ; and seemed very partial to a large 

 heap of rubbish which lay within a few yards of the house. It was 

 thought to roost very near the house ; and was observed sometimes 

 alone, and sometimes in company with other small birds. 



I have said that these birds had apparently taken their departure ; 



