190 AVES. 
The European Robin (Mot. rubecula, Lin.). — Olive-brown above, throat and breast orange-red, slightly bordered ( 
with ash-colour, the belly white : young mottled brown. [We have seen a very similar species, but with diiferently ; 
formed bill, from Trebizond ; and there is another closely allied, from Japan.] 
The Blue-throated Fantail (Mot. suecica, lAn.', [Cyanecula suecica, Brehm].) — Brown above, with a brilliant J. 
blue throat, in the middle of which is a rufous spot, [which disappears with age. This bird has been separated ( 
with propriety, and differs remarkably from the others in its gait, always running by alternate motion of the feet, ; 
like a Wagtail, instead of hopping ; when running thus, it spreads out its tail from time to time like a fan. It is ( 
only an accidental visitant in Britain. 
The following are referrible to the Ruticilla, Brehm ; PJuenicurus, Swains.] 
The White-fronted Redstart (Mot. ph<enicunis, Lin.). — Grey above, with a black throat and white forehead, the ( 
under parts, rump, and all but the middle pair of tail-feathers, bright ferrugineous. [Female browner, with tail : 
and rump similar to the male ; young spotted. This is a common summer visitant in many parts of Britain, inha- . 
biting the vicinity of large hollow trees, ivied ruins, dilapidated garden-walls, &c. Like most of the present I 
group, it generally sings perched on some high pinnacle. Its note is plaintive and little vai’ied]. 
The Black Redstart (Mot. erythacus, tithys, gibralteriensis, and atrata, Gm.) — [Rather larger than the preceding, , 
with longer wings : no red underneath, and rarely any trace of white on the forehead. It is more confined to 
rocky places and great buildings than the other, and is very rare in the British islands, where, however, it does ‘ 
not appear to be migratory. The young of this species are not mottled. It is an inferior songster. 
There are several others, all from the eastern hemisphere. 
The Petroica, Swains., comprehends some nearly allied species from Australia. Others, with shorter legs, and] 
rather stouter bills, conspicuous for the bright azure of their upper parts, compose the Sialia of the same system- ^ ; 
atist, and are found only in America. These and many other named subdivisions, including the Phoenicorns and j jl 
Moucherolles, pass, however, in every possible way, into each other. They grade, as already noticed, from the] 
Petrocinclce ; the true Robins form a closely-allied subdivision, Geocincla of Gould.] ' 
The Fauvettes {Curruca, Beclist.) — 
Have the bill straight, slender, and slightly compressed in front ; the ridge of the upper mandible 
curving a little towards the tip. 
The most celebrated bird of this subgenus [but which assuredly does not belong to it] is 
The Nightingale (Mot. luscinia, Lin.), of 
a russet-brown above, whitish brown on the 
lower parts, with a rufous tint on the tail. 
Every one is acquainted with this songster 
of the night, the varied and melodious notes 
of which resound through the woods. It 
nestles upon trees, [always on or near the 
ground, among decayed leaves], and sings 
only till its young are excluded. 
There is a rather larger species in the east 
of Europe, with obscure spots on the breast 
(Mot. Philomela, Bechst.).— [These birds 
have no particular affinity with the follow- 
ing, but are essentially small slender 
Thrushes, almost inseparably allied to Tur~ 
dus minor and some others from North 
America. They have much longer limbs 
than the Fauvettes, seek their food princi- 
pally on the ground, among decaying leaves, 
and the young are in their first plumage 
mottled, as in the true Thrushes, which is 
not the case with the following. The 
Common or Plain-breasted Nightingale has 
very much the same manners as a Robin, and 
is equally pugnacious: we have known it 
The Nightingale-^ constitute the Philomela, Swains., Luscinia, 
Fig. 87. — The Nightingale.* 
to breed in captivity with a female of that species, 
Brehm.] 
Other species, more particularly known as Fauvettes, have almost always an agreeable song, and sprightly 
habits. They are continually flitting about in pursuit of insects, nidificate in bushes, and the greater number of 
them frequent watery situations, among the reeds, &c. [Such as do so fall, for the most part, under the natural 
division Salicaria, and are very distinct from the others : they have a peculiar babbling song, and are exclusively 
insectivorous. 
Some of them have proportionally large bills, and streakless plumage, dark above, paler underneath. Such are] 
The Great Babbler (Turdus arundinaceus, Lin. ; Sylvia turdoides, Tern.). — Rather less than a Redwing, and 
Sketched from life. 
