REDSTART . — Ruticilla plicemcura. 
The Redstart is well known by its black chin, and the light ruddy feathers 
on the lower part of the back. It is an elegantly shaped bird, and a great 
ornament to our fields and hedgerows. The name of Redstart is a very 
appropriate one, and has been given to the bird in allusion to the peculiar 
character of its flight. While walking quietly along the hedgerows, the 
observer may often see a bird flash suddenly out of the leaves, flirt its tail in the 
air, displaying strongly a bright gleam of ruddy hue, and after a sharp dash of a 
few yards, turn into the hedge again with as much suddenness as it had displayed 
in its exit. These manoeuvres it will repeat frequently, always keeping well in 
front, and at last it will quietly slip through the hedge, double back on the 
opposite side, and return to the spot from whence it had started. 
No one need fancy, from seeing the bird in the hedge, that its nest is in close 
proximity, for the Redstart seldom builds in such localities, only haunting them 
for the sake of obtaining food for its young. The nest is almost invariably 
built in the hole of an old wall, in a crevice of rock, a heap of large stones, in a 
hollow tree, or in very thick ivy. The eggs are generally five in number, 
although they vary from four to seven, and are of a beautiful blue, with a slight 
tinge of green. They are not unlike those of the common hedge sparrow, but 
are shorter and of a different shape. 
The Redstart has a very sweet song, which bears some resemblance to that of 
the nightingale- 
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