ON DRESS PABAfrB ' 101 



at this important time ? It has been thought 

 that these absentees have no interest and no 

 knowledge of nest affairs, but doubt is 

 thrown on this conclusion by the fact ob- 

 served by Mabel Osgood Wright, that when 

 a mother humming-bird was accidentally 

 killed, the father at once appeared and took 

 tender care of the little family. 



I tried to make my glimpses of the nest- 

 ing-bird suit my knowledge of the female 

 redstart, but in vain. If she belonged to that 

 family she differed from any redstart I had 

 seen. As I know her, this special little dame 

 is always on dress parade, all airs and graces, 

 scrambling madly about, not afraid of being 

 seen, and in every way different from the 

 elusive little owner of that nest. 



Moreover, who ever heard of a bird of that 

 species building in, or even behind, a tuft 

 of hanging moss ? Yet it is just as unprece- 

 dented that a bird should claim a tree and 

 nest not his own, and early in the study I 

 had satisfied myself that there was no second 

 nest on that tree. But then again, where was 

 the mate of the nesting-bird, if the redstart 

 were not he ? I was completely baffled for 



