288 ADVENTURES AMONG BIRDS 



nor where it was to be seen: all I had to do was to be 

 out all day, patiently waiting and watching! 



The wonder is that when, in spite of conscience, I 

 got away, I did witness some things which were actually 

 worth recording. Thus, one day while sitting by the 

 old sea-ruined coastguard station on the dunes, between 

 the sea and the marsh, I noticed a small, unfamiliar 

 bird, robin-like in appearance, but darker and without 

 the red waistcoat, flitting in a sprightly manner about 

 the old crumbling walls. By-and-by his flittings and 

 little dashes after passing flies brought him to a perch 

 within five yards of me; and sitting there, curiously 

 eyeing me, dropping his wings and flirting a broad tail, 

 he stood revealed — a black redstart! A happy experi- 

 ence: in all that empty desolate place I could not have 

 met with a more engaging stranger, nor one more 

 friendly. For he is first cousin to our pretty firetail 

 with a sweet little summer song, only our redstart is 

 a shy bird, whereas this black redstart was tamer than 

 any robin. I took it that he was resting a day on the 

 dunes after his perilous flight over the North Sea, and 

 that he came from Holland, where he is common and 

 breeds fearlessly in and on the houses. That is why 

 he was so confident, also why he eyed me so curiously, 

 for he knew by the look of me that I was not a Dutch- 

 man. More than that he did not know, and he had 

 no letter tied to his wing; nevertheless, he had a greet- 

 ing and a message for me from that country and that 

 people, who among the nations of the Continent, are 

 most like the English in kindness to animals as well as 



