NORTHERN PAINTED REDSTART 685 



catcher, and as it has been seen frequently gleaning food from the 

 trunks of trees and from the surfaces of rocks, it is evidently largely, 

 if not wholly, insectivorous. 



Behavior. — The actions of the painted redstart are strikingly remi- 

 niscent of the movements of the American redstart, to which of course 

 it is closely related. It is one of our most active birds, almost con- 

 stantly in motion, seldom remaining in one spot for more than a few 

 seconds, and hardly to be exceeded in its nervous activity by the most 

 restless of our little wrens. In spite of the striking colors that make it 

 so conspicuous, it is not at all shy and seems to show no fear of humans ; 

 in fact it seems to court attention as it displays before us the beauties 

 of its plumage, spreading its wings and tail to show the white areas and 

 fluffing out its feathers to expose the brilliant carmine of its lower 

 breast. 



Swarth (1904) says that— 



he can be seen clambering over tree trunks or mossy rocks, turning now this way 

 and now tliat, as if conscious and proud of his beautiful appearance even when 

 engaged in the commonest duties of life, gathering insects for the young or 

 material for the nest. Females, as well as males, strut about in the same osten- 

 tatious manner, for in color and appearance the sexes are absolutely indistinguish- 

 able ; and even the dull colored juveniles adopt the same style as soon as they are 

 able to fly. * * * Though feeding to some extent in the underbrush, and even 

 on the ground and over the rocks, they do not stick closely to such places as do 

 the Tolmie Warblers and Yellow-throats ; nor on the other hand do they frequent 

 the extreme tree tops and tips of the limbs as the Townsend, Hermit and other 

 "Warblers do, but preferring rather the medium between the two extremes, they 

 can be seen clambering aljout the sides of the tree trunks and over the larger limbs, 

 examining the crevices and interstices in the bark in search of food, and occasion- 

 ally flying out a short distance after some passing insect. 



Mrs. Bailey (1928) writes: 



In catching insects they often dropped through the air or made downward 

 swoops in conventional Redstart and Flycatcher-manner, and once one dropped 

 about twenty feet to catch on a hanging rope and then on a vine that swung 

 with it prettily ; but in the main they hunted in the sycamore and live oak tops 

 and markedly and perhaps preferably on the great slanting trunks of the live 

 oaks where the crevices of the bark seemed to supply a ready feast. Even in the 

 mesquites, a Painted Redstart was seen flying from one trunk to another. On 

 the oaks, when the long black and white fan tail was outspread against the bark 

 the suggestion was of a museum specimen, a pinned-out gorgeous butterfly. 

 Another interesting pose of the Redstart's suggesting a close scrutiny for in- 

 sects was a forward tilt of the body with the black crest raised enquiringly. 



Voice. — Swarth (1904) says: "A call note is uttered at frequent 

 intervals, not unlike the peep of a young chicken, and occasionally 

 the short, low song of the male can be heard. Though this is usually 

 given utterance to between intervals of feeding, I have once or twice, 

 usually in the early morning, seen the male ascend to the top of a tall 

 tree, and from the tip of some dead limb repeat his song, sometimes for 

 half an hour before descending." 



