658 BULLETIN 203, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



winter quarters to the extreme northwestern section of its nesting 

 range requires somewhat less than two months. 



Milton B. Trautman (1940) from many years of observations at 

 Buckeye Lake, Ohio, finds that the first redstarts arrive there in April. 

 A marked increase in numbers occurs during the first week of May, 

 the period of maximum abundance extending from May 10 to May 20. 

 A marked decrease occurs after May 22, and a few days later virtually 

 all that remain are summer residents. This condition seems to be 

 typical throughout this belt of the redstart's range. At points farther 

 south or north the dates would be correspondingly earlier and later. 



Courtship. — The males are the first to appear and can be heard 

 singing at the time of their arrival. The females come a few days 

 or a week later. Although the first redstart arrivals in Maine may 

 be expected early in May, it is several weeks before the bulk of the 

 resident birds are to be found on their breeding grounds. The males 

 exhibit unusual aggressiveness and indulge in a good deal of fighting 

 in defending their chosen territories. Sometimes two males may be 

 seen hovering in flight as they peck viciously at each other and then 

 perhaps dart into cover with their tails spread and their whole being 

 in a quivering belligerent state. Again, the strutting antics of the 

 amorous males may be seen as they display before the females. 



Joseph J. Hickey (1940) as a result of a very intensive and thorough 

 study of the redstarts on a 40-acre area in Westchester County, N. Y., 

 gives us an excellent account of their courtship and territorial aspects. 

 The redstart, he says — 



is a highly territorial species. Males advertised their presence by their typical 

 well-known song and by formalized territorial displays that apparently served 

 to define boundaries and reduce fighting. These displays consisted of short, 

 horizontal, semicircular flights made with stiffened wings and out-spread tails. 

 These performances were frequently observed between males, less commonly 

 between females and never between a male and a female where a question 

 solely of territory was involved. Kingston's interpretation of the function of 

 warning coloration in plumages seemed to be particularly applicable in these 

 cases. Low, repeated quit, quit notes could be heard when the displays were 

 concluded and the birds returned to their perches. As far as could be observed, 

 the same performances seemed to serve as some part of the male's courtship of 

 the females. On all exciting occasions, of course, both sexes spread their tails 

 like many other wood warblers. Flight songs appeared to be absent. Singing 

 perches, if present, were largely undetected by the observer. One male which 

 took up territory in a blackberry-locust association sang frequently on April 30 

 and May 8 only one to two feet from the ground. Three males were once watched 

 for an entire morning before females had arrived in the area : one was quite 

 obviously patrolling the boundaries of his territory, the two others seemed to 

 be moving back and forth on an indefinite and irregular axis, which approximated 

 the length of their territories. 



A special effort was made in 1937 to learn the number of unmated males. 

 Twenty-four occupied rigidly fixed territories on the study area. Twenty of 

 these birds were definitely mated. Of the remaining four, one held a territory 



