WOODLAND WARBLERS 173 



bright feathers, the female was oftenest plain, so that 

 House People and cannibal birds shouldn't see her so 

 easily when she sat on the nest." 



" You are right, my boy," said the Doctor, who ahvays 

 let the children answer each other's questions, if they 

 could. '' Madam Redstart, you see, wears an olive- 

 brown cloak trimmed with yellow, and even her boys 

 wear clothes like their mother's for a couple of sea- 

 sons ; for Heart of Nature does not allow them to come 

 out in their red and black uniforms until they are three 

 years old, and know the ways of the world." 



" Learning to name birds is harder than I thought 

 it would be," said Nat. '' Some wear different feathers 

 in spring and fall, a lot more pairs are different to begin 

 with, and the young ones are mixed up at first. It's 

 worse than arithmetic " — and poor Nat looked quite 

 discouraged. 



" You certainly have to remember the laws of Bird- 

 land, as well as their exceptions," answered the Doc- 

 tor ; '' but when you have once recognized and named 

 a bird you will carry its picture always in your mind, 

 for the Redstarts that you will see when you are very 

 old men and women, will be like the one that is dancing 

 along the walk now." 



^'Why do they call this Warbler a 'Redstart'?" 

 asked Dodo. 



"Because it has a lot of red on it, and it's always 

 starting up in a hurry," ventured Rap. 



" That is not the real reason," said the Doctor. 

 " The name comes from a German word that means 

 'red tail,' and rightly belongs to a bird of Europe that 

 is never found in this country. Our bird has some red 



