12 WASTE-LAND WANDERINGS. 



well developed in all animals, and when experience has 

 not taught the necessity of extreme caution, any occur- 

 rence outside the routine of their methodical lives very 

 generally induces them to come forward and determine 

 its nature. 



A capital opportunity to determine the number and 

 species of birds in a given area is offered whenever a 

 quarrel occurs, particularly among nesting thrushes, and 

 this is quite often. Once the trouble begins, every bird 

 of every kind will hasten thither. More than once, 

 probably because English sparrows put in an appearance, 

 I have known such quarrels to end in a general riot. I 

 once saw a house-wren become so excited that for fully 

 a minute it was dumb. It must have seemed eternity 

 to that bird. 



I was soon again afloat, and quietly moving onward, 

 when the place of the thrush was taken by a pretty red- 

 start; but it did not stay. Once, a few notes were 

 quickly whistled, and the bird was gone. I made no 

 effort to follow its erratic passage through the tree-tops. 

 It requires sharper eyes and a more nimble body than I 

 now possess to do this satisfactorily. 



Redstarts, which are usually abundant from spring 

 until late in autumn, are excellent songsters, and, quite 

 unlike the average warbler, are as merry - hearted in 

 August as in May. Strangely enough, very few people 

 appear to know them. I took one, not long ago, from 

 the clutches of a cat, and carried it all day, showing it 

 to every person whom I met. In every case, but one, 

 I was asked what bird it was. The exception declared 

 it to be a barn-swallow. 



