REDSTART. 181 



however, lie is more like the flycatchers than the 

 sparrows. Indeed, you might imagine that it was 

 from his flycatcher-like way of starting up or fall- 

 ing through the air unexpectedly that he got his 

 name ; for then you can see the blotches of rich 

 salmon that mark his wings and tail. However 

 this may be, the rest of his plumage is as striking 

 as his tail. His back is glossy black, and each 

 side of his white breast is ornamented with a 

 patch of bright salmon or red. The female, as 

 usual, is plainer than her spouse has no black 

 on her breast, is olivaceous above, and light yel- 

 low where the male is salmon. The young birds 

 are like their mother, only browner above. As 

 the young males begin to put in coat or vest a 

 patch or a gore of their father's colors, they get 

 a ludicrously motley look ; and when they finally 

 come out in the full handsome suit of black and 

 red, you imagine them as proud as the college 

 senior with his silk hat. 



Like the flycatchers, the redstarts are fluffy 

 birds and sit with drooping wings. But they 

 show warbler blood by the mad way they career 

 about, opening and shutting their tails fan-fash- 

 ion, turning somersaults, flitting from branch to 

 branch, stopping a second to give a little burst of 

 song, and then fluttering around again; chasing 

 helter-skelter among the bushes ; and suddenly 

 falling through the leaves as if they had been shot, 

 only to snap up their prey and dart off to begin 

 their gambols over again. 



