Redstart 



second to give a little burst of song, and then fluttering 

 round again; chasing helter-skelter among the bushes; 

 and suddenly falling through the leaves as if they had 

 been shot, only to snap up their prey and dart off to begin 

 their gambols over again. 



Florence A. Merriam. Birds Through an Opera Glass.^ 



The redstart folds and unfolds his twinkling tail in sport. 



Olive Thorne Miller. 



ROBIN, AMERICAN 



The most native and democratic of all our birds. 



Burroughs. Wake Robin.^ 



His red breast is a myth and belongs to his EngHsh 

 namesake, and it must be owned that his is a homely 

 reddish brown that looks red only when the sunhght falls 



on it He has .... a calm, dignified air. 



With time to meditate when he chooses, Hke other sturdy, 

 well-fed people, his reflections usually take a cheerful 

 turn; and when he lapses into a poetical mood, as he 

 often does at sunrise or sunset, sitting on a branch in the 

 softened light and whispering a little song to himself, 

 his sentiment is the wholesome, every-day sort .... 

 full of contented appreciation of the beautiful world he 

 lives in. 



Florence A. Merriam. Birds Through an Opera Glass.^ 



117 



