TIIE REDSTART. 203 



singers, tlie bird has a delicate ear, and imitates, 

 even in a wild state, the notes of other birds, 

 " embellishing," as Bechstein says, " its natm*al 

 song (composed of several rather pretty strophes) 

 by adding the notes of other birds with which it 

 associates." One which had built beneath the 

 eaves of this writer's house, imitated pretty closely 

 the song of a chaffinch which was himg in a cage 

 beneath ; while a neighbour of his had a redstart 

 in liis garden, which repeated the notes of a 

 bhickcap tliat had a nest near it. In confine- 

 ment it is said by Sweet to be able to learn 

 to sing any tune that is whistled or sung to it. 

 ( )ne which he possessed, learned the " Copenhagen 

 AN'altz," that it had frequently heard sung, only 

 it would sometimes stop in the middle, and say 

 •' chipput," a name by which it was generally 

 called, and which it would repeat whenever its 

 master entered the room, either by day or night. 

 ( )tlier birds of this species have been known to 

 imitate very closely the notes of the sparrow, and 

 the songs of the garden warbler and the lesser 

 whitethroat, the robin and the blackcap. Its own 

 song, though soft and sweet, has little variation, 

 and no gi*eat force. 



