Redstart (Ruticilla phœnicura), a bird of the family Sylviidæ, ranging in Europe from the North Cape to the wooded regions of central and southern Europe; in Asia to the valley of the Yenesei in summer, and to Palestine, Arabia, and Persia in winter; in Africa from the Canaries and Madeira and Senegal to Abyssinia in winter. In Great Britain it is a summer visitor to most parts, though unaccountably absent from some; in Ireland it has been very seldom recorded, but since the summer of 1885 it has nested annually at Power's Court, County Wicklow. The male is about 5½ inches long, has the head, back, and wing-coverts slate-gray; the forehead and eye-streak white; chin, throat, and cheeks jet black; wings brown, with pale outer edges; the tail and upper tail-coverts bright rufous chestnut; the rest of the under parts buff; bill black; legs and feet brown. The female has the upper parts grayish brown, under parts lighter, the tail less brilliant, and no bright colours on the head. The redstart is a bird of lively manners. Its food consists of flies, gnats, small butterflies, and other insects; the young are fed largely on caterpillars. The nest is built of moss and dry grass, lined with hair and feathers, in holes in trees or walls; the eggs are usually six in number, and of a light blue colour. The song is slight, but soft and melodious; the alarm note is a plaintive wheet. In some parts of the country this bird is called the 'Fire-tail,' start being derived from the Anglo-Saxon steort, 'a tail.' The Black Redstart (R. titys) is now a well-known visitor to many parts of the English coasts, especially of Devon and Cornwall, in autumn and winter, and also to the east and south coasts of Ireland. It is more rare in Scotland, but it has been found as far north as the Pentland Skerries. It has been recorded in Iceland, the Faroes, southern Scandinavia, and Denmark. From Holland southwards it is abundant in spring. Its home is in southern Europe and northern Africa, whence it ranges eastwards to the Ural Mountains, Palestine, and Nubia. Other species of redstart are found, one (R. mesoleuca) in Cyprus, Asia Minor, and Persia; another (the Indian Redstart, R. rufiventris) from Lebanon eastward; and a third (R. ochrurus) in the Caucasus and Armenia.