PERSONALITY IN BIRDS 231 



power. Not unlike a Robin's also is its habit of 

 nesting in holes of old walls and trees and in " queer" 

 places generally; but the plain blue eggs point 

 toward the Chats. In fact, though in its character 

 the Redstart resembles the Robin in so many ways, 

 in its build and aspect it inclines more toward the 

 Wheatear and Whinchat. These three constitute 

 the fraternity of the black mask. Present as little 

 more than an eye-streak in the Wheatear, in the 

 Whinchat it assumes the proportions of the masque- 

 rader's mask, while in the Redstart it becomes the 

 full face-concealing mask of the highwayman. 



It may well be asked how the Hedge-sparrow 

 comes into such company as that of Nightingale, 

 Robin, and Redstart. If the question were asked of 

 one acquainted with birds in the open, but knowing 

 nothing of the many and conflicting attempts to 

 classify them, he would review mentally such birds 

 as in any way resembled the Hedge-sparrow in its 

 appearance and ways, and though conscious of no 

 small differences distinguishing it from the Robin, 

 Redstart, and the Chats, he would probably answer, 

 "It cannot go anywhere else" a sufficient indication 

 of the value of a knowledge of the personalities of 

 birds to those who in classifying them devote their 

 attention too exclusively to structural elements. No 

 amount of insistence upon "scutellated tarsi" would 

 induce such a person to admit the Hedge-sparrow 

 into association with the Tits, as was done by 

 Seebohm for this reason. He "knows" that two 

 sets of birds so utterly different in their personalities 

 cannot be close allies. 



The fact is, the Hedge-sparrow is an "odd" bird. 



