180
THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
migrant on many parts of the English coast, being not uncommon
along the southern littoral, especially in Dorset, Somerset,
Devon and Cornwall. It is not so frequently recorded in the
Eastern coastal counties north to the Humber and in those of
the west to Anglesea. Otherwise throughout Britain it is
uncommon and has been observed as far north as Shetland.
Up to 1890 at least six occurrences in Essex were known and
by 1929 this number had been doubled, additional records
having been published since the latter date.
Supposed instances of breeding in Britain have been reported
from time to time but none was convincing. One of the best
known of these was of Essex origin. A nest with four eggs was
found near Danbury Palace in May 1888 and referred to this
species. The nest and two of the eggs were accepted by the
British Museum but it was subsequently decided that they be-
longed to the Redbreast.
Reliable evidence—the first for Britain—was published
proving that Black Redstarts had reared young on a cliff-face
on the south coast of England in 1923, 1924, and 1925, two
pairs having nested in the last year. No further nesting was
reported from this locality but in 1930 a pair reared two broods
in Kent. In 1933 a pair nested successfully in Woolwich Arsenal,
choosing for their nest one of the busiest parts of the Arsenal,
where traffic was constantly passing. In three successive years,
1936, 1937 and 1938, breeding was established in the town of
Cambridge. In 1940 there were further signs of the extension
of the nesting range. Although London would not have been
considered as one of the most likely localities to be colonized,
yet by reason of the previous occurrences of the Black Redstart
almost in the heart of the Metropolis it was not so surprising to
learn that young had been reared in one of the busiest parts of
the capital. The evidence that was adduced suggested that
nesting had occurred in the precincts of Westminster Abbey.
During this year, 1940, two pairs bred in the Medway area of
Kent. Judging by the statements of the recorder these birds
must have chosen a highly industrialized area in which to rear
their young as the male was observed singing on the top of a
workshop amid the terrific din of rivet-hammers and the territory
was a dumping ground for timber, iron, cable-drums, etc., sur-
rounded by high and low buildings. Another county was
probably colonized in 1939 and 1940, as Black Redstarts were
observed in the heart of Ipswich through the summers of these
years. London was again in the limelight in 1941, as a pair
nested twice in that year near Westminster Abbey and further
occurrences were reported from other parts of the city. At
least one pair bred in 1941 in the same part of the Medway area,