Sprightly in its actions, and more vividly coloured than many of our Summer Migrants, the Redstart cannot fail to attract attention in the districts which it frequents during its sojourn with us. It would be difficult, indeed, to find a more beautiful little bird than the male Redstart in his nuptial plumage. The pale grey colour of the head and back, relieved by a silvery white spot upon the forehead and a jet-black throat, contrasts strongly with the bright chestnut of the breast, upper tail coverts, and tail. From the bright colour of its tail, in fact, it has derived the name Redstart, which is simply the Anglo-Saxon equivalent for “Red-tail.” “Fire-tail,” “Brand-tail,” and “Quick-start,” are other local names by which it is variously known. The last-named has reference to the singularly characteristic movement of the tail, which is rapidly flirted horizontally instead of vertically, as in the case of most other birds. Upon this point, however, there seems to be some difference of opinion. Macgillivray, a high authority in such matters, observes, “As to the motion of the tail in this bird, which has supplied some observers with a subject of dispute, I am convinced that it is vertical—that is, up and down, and not alternately to either side, although at each jerk the feathers are a little spread out, as is the case with those of many other birds of this order, as the Stonechat and Whinchat.” I feel sure, notwithstanding this opinion, that I have frequently observed a horizontal movement. Its mode of progression on the ground has been compared by the same observer to that of the Wheatear, “for it neither walks nor runs,” he says, “but advances by leaps.” I cannot, however, completely endorse this view, for I have frequently seen a Wheatear run, and at times very rapidly. “Unless on a wall, or on bare ground, however, it seldom hops much, for it procures its food chiefly by sallying after insects on the wing, or by alighting on the ground to pick up those which it has observed amongst the herbage, and on trees it flies from branch to branch.” Although generally distributed in England and Scotland, the Redstart is nowhere very common, being most plentiful, apparently, in the southern counties of England, and becoming rarer as we proceed northward. In Ireland it is scarcely known at all, and does not visit the Hebrides. On the Continent, however, it has a tolerably wide range, extending from Archangel throughout Scandinavia and the whole of Europe, except Portugal, to the Mediterranean, which it crosses to visit North Africa, Egypt, and Abyssinia for the winter season.