666 BULLETIN 203, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



understanding, which is remarkable from the fact that the males are 

 inclined to pugnacity and firmly attack all intruders of their kind 

 that invade their chosen territory." Whether or not polygamy ever 

 exists among redstarts, as with the ovenbird, to my knowledge has 

 never been determined. 



Dr. A. F. Skutch describes an injury feigning performance of a pair 

 of adult redstarts which he observed at Ithaca, N. Y., on June 13, 1931. 

 These birds apparently had young in the vicinity. He writes : "Wliile 

 passing through a tract of low, swampy woods, I was led by the excited 

 chirping of a pair of American redstarts to the discovery of their nest 

 in the crotch of an elderberry bush about 9 feet above the ground. 

 When I attempted to learn by feeling with my finger-tips what it 

 contained, the birds gave such a demonstration as I have seldom wit- 

 nessed. The female approached the closer to me, advancing within 

 easy reach as she chirped her distressed reproaches; but the male, 

 although he remained at a somewhat greater distance, was more active 

 in his efforts to lead me away. Although I felt that to them it was a 

 most anxious occasion, I confess that I deliberately prolonged their 

 agony that I might delight my eyes with the gorgeous display of the 

 male redstart as he perched on a long twig with tail spread and wings 

 fully extended, vibrating — it seemed to me — as rapidly as a humming- 

 bird's. What a splendid color-contrast in the full black and the 

 orange-salmon of the wings flashing into a blur, while the rich colors 

 of the relatively motionless tail showed so clearly 1 Descending to 

 the broad surface of a skunk-cabbage leaf, he continued his manifesta- 

 tions of distress — but how can so airy and refulgent a creature con- 

 vincingly express despair? Next, falling to the ground, he danced 

 over it with spread tail and fluttering wings; but it impressed me 

 rather as some fairy dance than a wounded bird attempting to avert 

 grave danger from his nest. The female redstart's display was simi- 

 lar but less intense, while her paler colors made it less spectacular. 

 Wlien next I returned my attention to the nest, I found it empty. 

 Since it is inconceivable that the birds should have become so excited 

 over an empty nest, I had no doubt that fledglings were hiding close 

 by, possibly having scrambled to safety while my delighted eyes were 

 fastened upon the parents. The attendants of tender nestlings in a 

 nearby nest made no such demonstration upon my approach." 



Adults feeding young out of the nest are commonly seen throughout 

 the month of July. There is a tendency for them to remain in the 

 vicinity of the nesting site, but they are less noisy than the young of 

 other species and hence are much less in evidence. 



Plumages. — The plumage of the redstart is distinctive and can be 

 easily distinguished from those of other warblers. The young males, 

 even those in the fiu:st nuptial plumage, are similar to the females; 



