684 BULLETIN 2 03, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



that stood over the stream that flowed down through Eamsey Canyon. 

 When we arrived on May 1, we were delighted to see that a pair of 

 painted redstarts had begun building their nest in an ivy vine growing 

 thickly over one side of our cabin. They were very tame and con- 

 fiding and did not seem to be disturbed in the least by our frequent 

 coming an going, but continued to build their nest and to lay and 

 incubate the eggs. The nest was 10 feet above the ground in the 

 thickest part of the vine, under the eaves ; it was a bulky affair, made 

 of the usual materials, as named. It held three eggs on May 16. 



Eggs. — From 3 to 4 eggs, usually 4, make up the full set for the 

 painted redstart. The eggs are ovate and slightly glossy. Those in 

 the three sets in the Museum of Comparative Zoology are creamy 

 white, very finely and delicately speckled with "chestnut," "auburn," 

 or "russet," with almost imperceptible under markings of "deep 

 brownish drab" or "light brownish drab." On some, the specklings 

 are sharply defined and on others so faint as to hardly show. Wliile 

 the markings are concentrated at the large end, they do not seem to 

 form a distinct wreath, as in so many warblers' eggs, but instead 

 gradually dissipate toward the small end. The measurements of 50 

 eggs average 16.5 by 12.8 millimeters; the eggs showing the four 

 extremes measure 17.6 by 13.2, 16.0 by 13.5, 14.5 by 12.7, and 16.8 by 

 11.7 millimeters (Harris). 



Plumages. — The painted redstart is one of the few wood warblers in 

 which the young bird assumes a practically adult plumage at the post- 

 juvenal molt and in which the sexes are hardly distinguishable in any 

 plumage. 



In the Juvenal plumage, the upper parts are sooty black and the lower 

 parts are largely sooty grayish, passing into dull whitish on the center 

 of the abdomen ; the breast is spotted or streaked with sooty black ; the 

 wings and tail are black, as in the adult ; the white patch on the wing 

 and the white of the abdomen are usually tinged with yellowish or 

 brownish buff. 



The post Juvenal molt involves all the contour plumage and the wing 

 coverts, but not the rest of the wings or the tail, and occurs mainly in 

 July and August; I have seen the beginning of the molt as early as 

 June 27, being well along on the head and back and only just beginning 

 on the breast; on the other hand, I have seen a bird in full juvenal 

 plumage as late as August 7, and another that had not quite completed 

 the molt on October 31. 



The complete postnuptial molt of adults occurs in July and August, 

 but most birds that I have seen are in full, fresh plumage in August. 

 There is little or no sexual difference in adults, though some females are 

 slightly duller (less glossy) than males. 



Food. — Nothing of consequence seems to have been published on the 

 food of the painted redstart, but, as it is known to be an expert fly- 



