REDSTART TRAINING. 57 



when his anxious parent returned. Plainly, he 

 would have been wiser to wait another day, for 

 all the time it was difficult for him to keep his 

 place ; every few seconds he made wild struggles, 

 beating the air with his wings, and at last, after 

 enjoying that elevated position in life about ten 

 minutes, he lost his hold and fell. I held my 

 breath, for a fall to the ground meant a dead 

 nestling; but he clutched at a twig two or three 

 feet lower, and succeeded in retaining this more 

 humble station. Madame came and fed and 

 comforted him, and it was soon evident that he 

 had learned a lesson, for he moderated his trans- 

 ports ; though his- head was as restless as ever, 

 his feet were more steady ; he did not fall 

 again, and he soon scrambled freely all over the 

 tree. 



Now I was interested to see how the redstart 

 babies were brought up, and for more than four 

 hours I kept my eyes on that youngster. It is 

 no small task, let me say, to keep watch of an 

 atom an inch or two long, to whom any leaf is 

 ample screen, to note every movement lest he 

 slip out of sight, and to make memorandum of 

 each morsel of food he gets. There were, also, 

 of course, the most seductive sounds about me ; 

 never so many birds came near. Cat-birds 

 whispered softly behind my back ; a vireo cried 

 plaintively over my head; the towhee bunting 



