The Redstart. 43 



was back again for another, and so on until lie was sated; he was always actively 

 flying about, and when I put in the saucer of soft food he invariably skimmed 

 over it snatching up a fragment of yolk of egg, whilst the saucer was still in my 

 hand. If I offered mealworms or spiders in my fingers it was also the Redstart 

 who snatched the first, flying up to the wires and either poising with rapidly 

 fluttering wings, almost like a Humming-bird, or clutching the wire work with 

 his claws for one second, to ensure a correct aim at the dainty. 



I found the Redstart rather fond of red and white currants in the early 

 summer, and in the autumn thin slices of apple were pecked to pieces by it ; but 

 white butterflies seemed to form its favourite morsels and the astounding manner 

 in which it would swallow one after another (wings and all) was worth the 

 attention of visitors to my collection. One thing I specially noted ; in common 

 with every migratory species which I have kept, the Redstart failed to show any 

 access of restlessness as the season of migration approached. Personally I do not 

 believe, for a moment, that any bird, properly attended to in the matter of food, 

 in an aviary, is even aware that there is a season of migration. 



Aviculturists go at night and glare at their birds, with the moon lighting up 

 their eyes into balls of fire, and the frightened creatures bang about recklessly in 

 their terror of the vague monster near their cages. The verdict is : — " See the 

 effect of the migratory instinct ! " There may possibly be an inherited desire in 

 some birds to travel at the approach of cold weather, but the true explanation of 

 the so-called " migratory instinct " in birds is, to most of them, merely another 

 name for short commons ; and, to the more delicate species, the added discomfort 

 of chilly nights. It must also be borne in mind that, at all seasons of the year, 

 birds in aviaries are extremely restless on bright moonlight nights, the clear 

 white light with the black shadows which accompany it, seem to startle birds ; 

 and, if your bedroom window is above an aviary, you will hear your captives 

 thumping the wirework at the end of each flight, at all hours of the night : 

 moreover the resident birds are quite as much given to this somewhat risky 

 exercise as the migratory species.* 



During the winter of 1894-5 the temperature of my unheated aviaries was 

 unusually low ; on one night (when the cold outside was very intense, two degrees 

 below zero, in fact) the thermometer registered twenty-one degrees of frost in the 

 passage between these aviaries ; my Redstart, however, was as lively as before, 



* This statement of mine has been disputed, on the ground that many young birds migrate before the 

 summer is over, and that this cannot be the reason for the return of the birds to their northern breeding 

 haunts in the spring. I never pretended that it was the only reason in the case of all birds, though I think 

 it probable that it was the initial cause of the migratory habit, which has become fixed by repetition through- 

 out numerous generations and persists even when the original cause for it has ceased to exist. The damp of 

 winter is far more dangerous to bird-life than frost, but want of food is fatal. 



