le party were looking where she
pointed, Olive using the field-glass.

"Those are a pair of Redstarts," she said, "and they are picking up
ants. I saw a number of little anthills there yesterday."

"A pair?" queried Nat. "They aren't the same color--one has yellow spots
where the other is red."

"I guess the one with the brown and yellow feathers must be the female,"
said Rap; "you know the Doctor told us, way back, that when the male
bird wore very bright feathers, the female was oftenest plain, so that
House People and cannibal birds shouldn't see her so easily when she sat
on the nest."

"You are right, my boy," said the Doctor, who always let the children
answer each other's questions, if they could. "Madam Redstart, you see,
wears an olive-brown cloak trimmed with yellow, and even her boys wear
clothes like their mother's for a couple of seasons; for Heart of Nature
does not allow them to come out in their red and black uniforms until
they are three years old, and know the ways of the world."

"Learning to name birds is harder than I thought it would be," said Nat.
"Some wear different feathers in spring and fall, a lot more pairs are
different to begin with, and the young ones are mixed up at first. It's
worse than arithmetic"--and poor Nat looked quite discouraged.

"You certainly have to remember the laws of Birdland, as well as their
exceptions," answered the Doctor; "but when you have once recognized and
named a bird you will carry its picture always in your mind, for the
Redstarts that you will see when you are very old men and women, will be
like the one that is dancing along the walk now."

"Why do they call this Warbler a 'Redstart'?" asked Dodo.

"Because it has a lot of red on it, and it's always starting up in a
hurry," ventured Rap.

"That is not the real reason," said the Doctor. "The name comes from a
German word that means 'red tail,' and rightly belongs to a bird of
Europe that is never found in this country. Our bird has some red on
the tail, but I really think that Rap's answer is the better one."

The American Redstart

Length about five and a half inches.

Upper parts shining black, marked on the wings and tail with rich
salmon-red.

Under parts shining black on the neck and breast, bright salmon-red on
the sides, and pinkish-white on the belly.

In the _female_ all the parts which are black in her mate are light
greenish-gray, and she is clear yellow where he is red.

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