BIRDS OF THE WEST 81 



berries, yet the name is a very pretty one and far better than most 

 A f them. 



If you wish to see the warblers you may begin your search, 

 for May is their month and most of them will be gone ere long 

 across the Canadian border. Look for them busily engaged in 

 the small branches of the trees and shrubs, looking for tiny in- 

 sects and their eggs. No birds are as well groomed. They are 

 clean and neat all the time with every feather in place upon 

 their snug little bodies. Of their economic and aesthetic value 

 there can be no doubt and when it comes to music why, they are 

 warblers. 



REDSTART. 



This is one of the dearest little birds and he dresses like a little 

 child when he is going to speak a piece and he is just as conscious 

 of the fact that he holds the center of the stage. You can ap- 

 proach him very closely when he will spread out his tiny wings, nut- 

 ter them a second and then dart out into the air to turn a somer- 

 sault for you. Sailing back to his perch he will glance at you 

 as much as to say "How is that for high?" Again and again he 

 will repeat the performance, snapping up a tiny fly each time 

 very much as the fly-cathers do. 



The man who named him was color-blind if he really meant 

 what he said, for redstart means redtail and that is precisely 

 what the little bird has not. Yet these homely names given to the 

 birds, though they are so often wrong give them a touch of 

 familiarity that their Latin names do not. For example ' ' Setophaga 

 ruticilla" doesn't mean as much to us as redstart. 



No doubt the little fellow's tail should receive recognition, 

 not because of its color, but because he is so proud of it. He will 

 spread it out like a fan and show as much pride in it as a woman 

 in the train of her party gown. You will recognize him at once 

 as a warbler but you may well depend upon his somersault as 

 the surest means of identification. 



I wonder if anyone lives who can identify all the warblers 

 at a glance? I should like to see his picture. 



