[Illustration]
Motacilla Phoenicurus, LINNÆUS; Le Rossignol de muraille,
BUFFON; Das Gemeiner oder Garten-Rothschwänzchen, BECHSTEIN.
Its length is five inches and a quarter, of which the tail measures two
and a quarter. The beak is five lines, the tip is blunt, black on the
outside, yellow within and at the corners; the iris is black; the shanks
are of the same colour, and ten lines high; the base of the upper
mandible and cheeks are black, as also the throat, but this is speckled
with white; the white on the front of the head unites with a streak of
the same colour, which extends above the eyes; the back of the head and
neck, the back and lesser wing-coverts, are dark ash grey tinged with a
reddish colour; the rump, breast, and sides, are red inclining to
orange.
The female is very different, very much resembling that of the black
redstart, yet its colours are rather lighter. The upper part of its body
is reddish ash grey; the whitish throat is not clouded with black till
the fifth or sixth year; the breast is dusky rust-red waved with white;
the belly is dusky white; the rump is reddish yellow[101].
It is not till after the first moulting that the distinction between the
plumage of the males and females is obvious; even then the breast of the
male retains the black tinged with white, but loses this tint in the
course of the following summer; the males also have for some time a
white streak on the forehead, that passes above the eyes, and the belly
is more white than rust-red.
HABITATION.--In a wild state these birds are found in Europe and Asia,
and are very common in Germany and England. They leave us the
beginning of October, and return the end of March or beginning of
April. At this time and in autumn they haunt hedges and bushes; but
in summer they principally frequent gardens, the banks of streams
planted with willows, and even forests. Those that frequent gardens
also enter towns, and will perch on the roofs of the houses,
enlivening the inmates with their song from morning till night.
In the house, if given a cage, it should be of such light wire work
as not to conceal the beauty of the plumage.
FOOD.--When wild they feed on all kinds of insects, earth-worms,
currants, and elderberries.
In the house, if taken in autumn, they may sometimes be induced to
feed on elderberries, rarely on the poultry paste. To entice them to
this meal-worms must be mixed with it at first, and some thrown in
when it is eaten; ants' eggs must be added in spring. These birds are
delicate, and always require to be supplied with insects; but never
give them earth-worms, as they do not digest them easily. If kept in
cages they should be given nightingales' food; yet fed in this way it
is rare to preserve them above three or four years; they generally
die of consumption or atrophy.
BREEDING.--The redstart generally places its nest in a hole of a tree
or wall; it is negligently formed of moss, stalks of grass, feathers,
and hair. The female has two broods in the year, and each time she
lays from five to seven eggs, of an apple green. Scarcely have the
tail-feathers begun to grow ere the young ones hop from the nest and
perch on some neighbouring branch, where they receive food from the
parent birds till they are able to seek it for themselves. Their
plumage before moulting is ash grey spotted with white. The young
females resemble the nightingale so much in autumn that they are
often mistaken for it. Bird-fanciers should rear these birds on ants'
eggs, with white bread soaked in boiled milk occasionally, and thus
accustom them to the common universal paste. They learn to repeat
parts of the songs of their companions.
DISEASES.--Diarrhoea and atrophy carry off the greatest number.
MODE OF TAKING.--Sticks covered with bird-lime should be placed across
the hedges frequented by these birds; they must then be driven gently
towards them. They are also attracted under nets, and amongst limed
twigs baited with meal-worms. In autumn they may be taken in nooses,
by suspending elderberries near them, either in orchards or thickets.
Those intended for the house should be taken in bird-traps or
springes, taking care that the wooden part be covered with felt or
cork, to prevent the legs being broken. The young ones of the first
year are the easiest to preserve. They also go to the water-trap
without difficulty.
ATTRACTIVE QUALITIES.--Its plumage, and still more its song and
sprightliness, render this a delightful bird. It is always in motion,
bowing, and moving its tail from side to side at every step; all its
actions are lively and graceful. It can improve its song, composed of
some very pretty strains, by adding to it parts of the songs of birds
that are found near it. For instance, those that build under my roof
imitate tolerably the chaffinch that hangs in a cage at my window;
and a neighbour of mine has one in his garden that repeats some
strains of a blackcap that has its nest near. This facility in
appropriating the song of other birds is rare in birds that live in a
state of liberty, and seems peculiar to this species. They become so
tame that they will take meal-worms from the hand.