my hands, she came, bringing a worm, and, 

 without the slightest fear of me, tried to feed 

 it. Yet she was somewhat daunted by the trap 

 in which her infant was struggling ; she would 

 fan my hands with her wings, then withdraw, 

 not able to muster quite enough courage to 

 settle upon them. 



Neither of these birds ever showed alarm at 

 the people of the house. In fact, I never saw 

 a redstart who seemed to know that we humans 

 ought to be dreaded. These birds are now as 

 innocent of suspicion as when they came up to 

 Adam to be named. On two occasions, during 

 severe summer storms, they have fluttered at 

 my windows for shelter, and dried their feathers, 

 as any way-worn traveler might, in safety be- 

 neath my roof. 



From the window one morning I saw Che- 

 bee, the least flycatcher, light upon the clothes- 

 line. She teetered a moment, balancing her 

 big head by her loosely jointed tail, then leaped 

 lightly into the air, turned, as only a flycatcher 

 can, and, diving close to the ground, gathered 

 half the gray hairs of a dandelion into her 

 beak, and darted off. I followed instantly, and 

 [81] 



