THE REDSTART. By John Buxton. New Naturalist Monograph No. 2.

1950 1st edition. Small 8vo (138 x 206mm). Ppxii,180. Colour frontispiece photograph, b/w photographs and illustrations, maps, bibliography. Green buckram, spine titled in gilt.

This is a detailed description of the life, the biology and the behaviour of the Redstart. This book is "a model of careful observation and a distinguished contribution to our knowledge of a single species of bird". John Buxton began the detailed study underlying this book during the five years' leisure afforded him by the German Army during the Second World War. Chapters include:- Arrival in breeding area - song - territory; Formation of the pair - display; The nest; Egg-laying and incubation; The care of the chicks in the nest; Growth of the chicks; Food - expectation of life; Migration; History and distribution; The redstarts. There are appendices on the scientific names of birds and insects mentioned in the text, maps of ringing recoveries of the redstart and breeding distribution maps of Phoenicurus phoenicurus and its relations.