Scissortails, Redbirds, Ricebirds, my birds

I've begun rehearsing "Trip to Bountiful" by Horton Foote. It takes place in Houston and further south and follows Carrie Watts' trip to the home of her youth. When she finally gets there, she hears a redbird's song and asks about it. As a very basic birder myself, I had to question just what that bird, a redbird, was. So, last night I did a little "Googling" and discovered that, most likely, a redbird was a reference to just that: a RED bird and probably connoted a tanager or a cardinal. The bird was definitely red at the end of the day.
The scissortail was easier by far to uncover. There are scissortail flycatchers which are all over the state of Texas in the summertime. I looked them up in Sibley and saw all I needed to see there. They are lovely, rather small birds and beautifully colored and with the longest tail feathers for a small bird that you'll ever see. These tail feathers, in flight, open into an inverted V shape and thus put one in mind of open scissor blades. This was a great discovery.
Another mention was of ricebirds. This was a bit more obscure as the definition specified nothing more than birds which fed around rice fields. Bob-o-links were one of the birds mentioned (though only as migrants). Since their name and repute struck me as kind of mysterious and delightful, I chose them as the ricebirds mentioned in the play. How fickle!

Last night, we took our short, flat walk. This was for the exercise of course but, for me, was for the Merlins. Immediately, we went to the "new" site and heard Spike calling out and "picking" but could see no nest site once again. I spent minutes looking and looking for both the bird and the nest site and saw neither. This worries me thoroughly as it bodes badly for a new clutch. Maybe it's just human failing that I cannot see a platform up in that tree! I really do not know and I certainly don't have the knowlege to assess this year's circumstances properly with the information I have. I can only hope (and pray) that the nest is there and my binocs are just not strong enough to see it. I'll just have to keep looking and reporting.

On the other hand, the Bushtits' nest is there, done, full, and ready to go. I watched it tonight but could see no movement nor any birds flying to and fro. That means nothing, though, as the mother could already be inside and sitting on eggs and, thus, not moving! So, I am at that pivotal point with these birds as well as the Merlins. We HAVE A NEST but lack the information! We may have a Merlin nest as well but need the visual information to prove it. In the play, we have the familiar names of the birds but lack the scientific information to identify them ornithologically. Like life (and the play), what a load of questions!