"Blue-tailed Warbler" was one of several English names in use for the Red-flanked Bluetail ( Tarsiger cyanurus) and it seems clear from this description that the bird was indeed an adult male of that species, an occurrence preceding by forty-four years the 1947 record in Shetland that added this bird to the British list ( vide Scot. It is not a likely species to be imported as a cage bird and its range is similar to that of other birds which have straggled to this country. I did not therefore place the occurrence on record. I had no doubt as to the identity of this rare visitor but as I was unable to produce the bird I considered that the evidence was not sufficient to add this species to the British list. I did not see its under-parts but the keeper described it as white. The head and upper back and wings were bluish-grey, the lower back and tail bright blue and there was a white eye stripe and a touch of rust colour on the sides. The keeper's description seemed to me to be correct. I had several short views of this bird as it passed low in thin parts of the hedge but had no chance of shooting it. Asked to describe it he said: "It is like a large Redstart with the red parts blue".Īll his attempts to make the bird fly to my side of the hedge failed and after making several short nights along the opposite side it flew inland and could not be found again though searched for carefully for three days. Bacon), who was on one side of the hedge, stopped me saying: "On the hedge in front of me is the prettiest bird I have ever seen". When beating the hedge running along the land side of the sea bank my keeper (F. Redstarts were far the most abundant but Pied Flycatchers, Robins, Willow Wrens, Goldcrests and Wheatears swarmed and a few Blue-throats were present. On September 19th, 20th and 21st, 1903, there occurred one of the greatest mass migrations of small birds that has taken place in the last half century. The quotation is exact and complete except for one or two minor corrections in punctuation and grammar: Blue-tailed Warbler. is among those in the care of the Bird Room at the British Museum (Natural History), and we are very grateful to Sir Norman Kinnear for drawing attention to this record and to Mr. Caton Haigh entitled 'Birds of a Lincolnshire Parish being A List of the Birds of North Cotes with Notes on the Autumn Migration'. 28-30, they say: 'The extract quoted below is from page 82 of the typescript of an as yet unpublished book by the late G. In an Editorial (1954) in British Birds, Vol. It was probably an example of Nemura cyanura, but, not having obtained it, identity must remain a mystery.' I only saw it in flight at sixty or seventy yards distance, when it seemed blue on both wings and tail. It perched for a moment on the hedge which he was beating only a few yards before him, and then flew away inland, and could not be found again, although much time was spent in the search. On the same day my keeper, who was with me, saw a bird which he described as a Redstart, but with a bluish-grey back and bright blue tail. 21st I shot a couple of Bluethroats on hedges near the coast, and at least one other was seen. Caton Haigh (1904) in The Zoologist, 4th series, Vol. Caton Haigh, Zoologist 1904: 293 Eds., British Birds 47: 28-30 Smith & Cornwallis, 1955 P. 1903 Lincolnshire North Cotes, adult male, seen, 21st September. Outside breeding season, it is mainly found in broadleaf evergreen forests, dense undergrowth, thickets, clearings, open woodlands, and on ridges and mountain tops.1). In China and Japan, it breeds up to 1,500/2,300 metres of elevation, and down to near the sea-level in pine forests in E Hokkaido. The latter habitat type is more frequented in the eastern part of the range, up to 3,000 metres of elevation. It is often found in old growth spruce forest with fallen trees and logs, often on hilly slopes, and also in pine and mixed forests with birch and rhododendron. The Red-flanked Bluetail breeds in mixed coniferous forests with dense shrubby undergrowth. It winters in S Japan, S Korea, E and SE China, Taiwan, Hainan and N SE Asia. The Red-flanked Bluetail breeds from Scandinavia, E through Russia, Korea, N China and Japan. At one year, the plumage is not fully blue above, but the bird is able to breed. The 1st winter male is similar to the female. The juvenile resembles female with brownish, spotted buff upperparts and rufous-tinged wings.
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