102 ADVENTURES AMONG BIRDS 



wing there were now two. One flew wildly away at 

 my approach to a distance of eighty or a hundred 

 yards before alighting again ; the other remained, 

 and when I drew near it again moved on its perch, 

 a little alarmed as at first, flirting its wings and tail 

 and once uttering its call note ; and then, recovering 

 from its fear, it began uttering little chirps as before. 

 Those tender little musical sounds, reminiscent of 

 vanished days in distant lands, were somewhat sad, 

 as if the bird complained at being left alone. But his 

 mate had not forsaken him after all, or perhaps she had 

 gone on with the others and then returned to look for 

 him at the last roosting-place. 



Having found my bird, I determined to make the 

 most of our second meeting. I had never had an 

 opportunity of looking at a redwing so closely before 

 in such a favourable light, and, seeing it in that way, 

 I found it a more beautiful bird than I had thought 

 it. Perched at a height of above five feet, it was seen 

 against the pale sky in that soft sunlight, pale but 

 crystal clear, and its eyes and every delicate shade in 

 its colouring were distinctly visible. The upper 

 parts were olive-brown, as in the throstle, but the 

 cream-coloured band over the large dark eye made it 

 very unlike that bird ; the dark spotted under-parts 

 were cream-white, tinged with buff, the flanks bright 

 chestnut-red. I could not have seen it better, nor so 

 well, if I had held it dead with glazed eyes in my hand ; 

 but the dead bird, however brilliant in its colours it 

 may be, I cannot admire. It is beautiful nevertheless, 



