668 BULLETIN 2 03, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Adult nuptial plumage acquird by wear. The abrasion of the black plumage 

 is in places so slight that there might be some replacement by new feathers, 

 but it is not apparent. Fading is not obvious, except of the flight feathers. 



The plumages and moults [of the female] correspond to those of the male. 

 First differs in first winter plumage which is browner, the breast patches merely 

 yellow tinged and the basal part of the rectrices much paler yellow, this color 

 usually absent from the base of the primaries and reduced in extent on the 

 secondaries. Some specimens are much like males. The first nuptial plumage 

 is acquired by a very limited, sometimes suppressed prenuptial moult. The 

 adult winter plumage is scarcely different from the first winter, a little grayer 

 on the back and the yellow area on the wings greater. The adult nuptial plumage 

 is apparently the previous plumage plus wear. 



Pure and partial albinistic and melanistic forms of the redstart have 

 been reported. 



Thos. D. Burleigh (1944a) describes a hybrid between the redstart 

 {Setophaga ruticilla) and the parula warbler {ComposotMypis 

 americana) which he secured on Cat Island, Miss., 9 miles oflFshore 

 from Gulf port : 



This specimen bears a superficial resemblance to the female Redstart but 

 close scrutiny reveals marked differences. The bill is not broadly wedge-shaped 

 as in the Redstart, and the rictal bristles are developed only to the same degree 

 as in the Parula Warbler, in this respect differing markedly from the genus 

 Setophaga. The wings have the middle and greater wing-coverts broadly tipped 

 with dull white, forming two distinct bands, and there is a complete absence of 

 the speculum on the inner remiges. The tail, although noticeably longer than in 

 the genus Cotnpsothlypis, lacks the yellow characteristic of Setophaga; this basal 

 portion of the outer rectices is dull white instead. The color pattern of the 

 upper parts is distinctly that of the Parula Warbler, and while duller in hue, 

 the olive green of the mantle is in contrast to the color of the lower back. On 

 the other hand, the under parts suggest the Redstart, the throat being dull white 

 rather than yellow, with the median portion of the breast tinged with light salmon. 



Food. — There has been no comprehensive study made of the food 

 of the redstart based on an examination of the contents of a repre- 

 sentative number of stomachs, but many field observations clearly 

 indicate that it is strictly insectivorous in its food-eating habits. The 

 insects it eats are extremely varied; it gleans them in the form of 

 eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults from the trunks, limbs, twigs, and 

 leaves of trees; and it is most adept in capturing insects in the air. 

 There are few small forest insects, whatever their stage of develop- 

 ment, that escape this active and resourceful warbler, so busy is 

 it in pursuit of its prey. Even the caterpillars that escape from 

 other slower warblers by hanging by their silken fibers are readily 

 snatched up by this aerial acrobat. It feeds on insects injurious to 

 deciduous trees and in Maine it frequents the coniferous forests to 

 supplement its food supply. I have frequently seen it snap up flies 

 and tiny midges, mosquitoes, and black flies, all of which, though 

 not injurious to vegetation, are most annoying to human beings. It 



