8o RURAL BIRD LIFE. 



much grief to the parent birds as if their young were 

 taken from them. If you approach the nest of the 

 Redstart when it contains their young, the birds become 

 very anxious for their welfare, coursing within a i&\N feet 

 of your head, uttering their mournful call notes, which 

 resemble those of the little Willow Warbler, and exhibit 

 in various ways the keenest anguish. As usual, the 

 female bird, with the intensity of a mother's love, ap- 

 proaches the nearest, and with hissing cries endeavours 

 to shield her offspring. But should you examine her 

 nest when the eggs are newly laid, she will silently leave 

 it, and though you take out the eggs in your hand, and 

 remain an indefinite time, she approaches you not, nor 

 displays the least sign of affection for them. 



The young are fed entirely on insects, and I have 

 reason to believe that but one brood is reared in the 

 year, although if the first set of eggs is removed a 

 fresh set will be laid. One or two of the eggs sometimes 

 prove addled. If this were the case in the nest of a 

 bird built in the open air, the ^^^ would most probably 

 be ejected ; but as the Redstart rears its young in holes, 

 the addled eggs are suffered to remain in the nest, and 

 thrown out the next season, should the little owners 

 return to their abode again. 



The young male Redstarts do not resemble their 

 brightly clothed sire in the slightest until after the 

 moulting season, and probably even then their garb is not 

 perfection until the following breeding season. All birds 

 when moulting seek retirement, as if aware of their 

 helpless condition. The Redstart moults in July and 

 August, and during that period we seldom see them, no, 

 not in the places they most frequent, until a short time 

 before their departure, which takes place very early in 

 September. 



