REDSTART. 181 
however, he is more like the flyeatchers than the 
sparrows. Indeed, you might imagine that it was 
from his flycatcher-like way of starting up or fall- 
ing through the air unexpectedly that he got his 
name ; for then you can see the blotches of rich 
salmon that mark his wings and tail. However 
this may be, the rest of his plumage is as striking 
as his tail. His back is glossy black, and each 
side of his white breast is ornamented with a 
patch of bright salmon or red. The female, as 
usual, is plainer than her spouse — has no black 
on her breast, is olivaceous above, and light yel- 
low where the male is salmon. The young birds 
are like their mother, only browner above. As 
the young males begin to put in coat or vest a 
patch or a gore of their father’s colors, they get 
a ludicrously motley look; and when they finally 
come out in the full handsome suit of black and 
red, you imagine them as proud as the college 
senior with his silk hat. 
Like the flycatchers, the redstarts are fluffy 
birds and sit with drooping wings. But they 
show warbler blood by the mad way they career 
about, opening and shutting their tails fan-fash- 
ion, turning somersaults, flitting from branch to 
branch, stopping a second to give a little burst of 
song, and then fluttering around 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. 
