A REDSTART IN A PANIC 109 



the way in which to make their debut as 

 there were babies to go ; in fact, I long ago 

 discovered that many of these little folk 

 come out of the egg with their minds made 

 up. Papa redstart was distracted trying to 

 keep them together, and went into a panic 

 at my approach, so I took pity on him and 

 left him to manage his unruly family by 

 himself. 



The study of warblers as before noted 

 is the most fascinating and at the same 

 time distracting and altogether exasperating 

 of bird-study. So small, so restless, so rapid 

 in movement; one moment alighting on a 

 twig like a feather, then darting a mere 

 flash of color over one's head ; now paus- 

 ing to utter the song, then instantly diving 

 behind a leaf ; now hovering daintily a frac- 

 tion of a second to snatch some infinitesimal 

 atom, then scrambling over the branches in 

 frantic haste, and all the time preferring 

 the tops of the trees for their evolutions. It 

 is impossible to regard them as anything 

 more than frolicsome youngsters, and their 

 small size encourages the feeling. To see a 

 pair of fussy fluttering warblers in charge 



