REDSTART. 183 



trill that he accents on the end as if glad it was 

 done. 



Te - ka - te - ka - te - ka - te - ka - teek'. 



One morning as I was watching a young hairy 

 woodpecker, the solicitude of a redstart diverted 

 me. Keeping up a nervous, worried cry, she eyed 

 me from all sides, and when I moved, followed 

 me in such a significant way that when I had 

 looked through the crotches for her nest without 

 finding it, I concluded the young were out. Fa- 

 ther Redstart, a young male with the scarlet 

 just appearing on the sides of his breast, mean- 

 while, showed about as much paternal anxiety as 

 Mr. Indigo on similar occasions. Suddenly I es- 

 pied one of the baby birds, a wee scrawny, gray 

 thing, sitting on the dead branch of a fallen tree. 

 As I came near him, his mother's terror was piti- 

 ful. She flew about as if distraught ; now trying 

 to draw me away, she cried out and fluttered her 

 wings beseechingly ; then, finding that I still kept 

 looking toward the little fellow, she flew down be- 

 tween us and tried to lure me off. I was very 

 anxious to see if she would " trail," and so was 

 merciless. Walking toward her trembling bird I 

 raised my hand as if to take him, at the same 

 time glancing over at her behold ! she was try- 

 ing another device assuming indifference, as if 

 divining that my interest in her was greater than 



