8o Bird-keeping. 



where he is. He will learn to imitate other birds' songs, 

 and to sing any tune whistled to him : he is a very 

 sensible bird, and will become very much attached to 

 any person who notices him. This bird is said to be 

 peculiarly attached to its young, and to evince the 

 greatest distress if any invader approaches the nest : 

 and an anecdote is told of a male Redstart who acted 

 the part of foster-father to a brood of young ones whose 

 father was shot, and assisted the hen in feeding them. 



A fact mentioned at a meeting of the British As- 

 sociation shows the affection of the BLACK REDSTART 

 (Ruticilla Tithys} for its young. A pair of these birds 

 built their nest on the spring of a disused railway car- 

 riage at Giessen, Hesse Darmstadt ; and when this was 

 unexpectedly wanted and attached to a train, the birds 

 followed their young to Frankfort, a distance of nearly 

 forty miles, and back; and accompanied the train 

 during one or two more short journeys, returning to 

 Giessen after four days, when the nest was removed to 

 a place of safety, and in due time the young birds 

 were fully fledged, and left it. This bird is but rarely 

 seen in England. The breast and lower part of the 

 body are of a sooty black. It sings a good deal, but its 

 song is much more croaking than that of the common 

 Redstart. It must be treated in the same manner as 

 its relative, in captivity. 



The BLUE -THROATED WARBLER or REDSTART 

 (Cyanccula Succicd) is very common in the south of 



