NORTHERN PAINTED REDSTART 683 



its breeding range across our border into southern New Mexico and 

 Arizona. Tliey arrive early in spring. H. S. Swarth (1904) noted 

 the first arrivals in the Huachuca Mountains on March 15, "and a v^eek 

 or so later they were quite abundant. At all times rather a solitary 

 bird, they are never to be seen in the mixed flocks of migrating war- 

 blers, but prefer rather to forage for themselves." During migration 

 they are quite widely distributed over the mountains and down to 

 the foothills. Those that Major Bendire saw near Tucson, and those 

 that others have seen in April among the pines and oaks were prob- 

 ably migrating. Mrs. Bailey (1928) says that they arrive in New 

 Mexico before the end of March. As the breeding season arrives, 

 they settle down in their favorite canyons for the summer. 



Nesting. — Eight years after the painted redstart was added to our 

 avifauna the first nest was discovered by Herbert Brown, on June 6, 

 1880. A second nest was found by Frank Stephens in May of the 

 next year, in a canyon between the two peaks of the Santa E.ita 

 Mountains. "It was under a small boulder in the side of a nearly 

 perpendicular bank, which was but two or three feet high. The 

 vicinity was heavily timbered with oak and sycamore." 



This nest, with its three eggs was sent to Brewster (1882) who 

 describes it as follows : "The nest, which is now before me, is large, 

 flat and shallow. It is composed of bark, coarse fibres from weed- 

 stalks, and fine, bleached grasses, the latter, with a few hairs, forming 

 a simple lining. The cup measures 2.10 inches in width by 1 inch in 

 depth; while the external diameter of the whole structure is rather 

 more than 5 inches, and its depth about 1.50." 



Since then quite a number of nests have been found in the Chiricahua 

 and Huachuca Mountains, all somewhat similar to the above in loca- 

 tion and in construction, differing widely in both respects from the 

 nesting sites and the nests of the well-known eastern species, the 

 American redstart. With one exception, all the nests of which we 

 have any record have been placed on the ground, under a projecting 

 rock, beneath the roots of a tree or shrub, or under a tuft of grass, and 

 on the side of some steeply sloping bank or the rocky side of a moun- 

 tain canyon, usually where grasses and ferns grow luxuriantly not 

 far from a small stream or spring. 



We found three painted redstart nests with eggs in the Huachucas 

 on May 11, 16, and 28, 1922. Two of these were quite typical of the 

 species, built on the ground on the sloping, rocky sides of canyons 

 and well hidden under tufts of long grass ; they were made of grasses 

 and leaves and lined with finer grasses and hair. Both were found by 

 watching the birds while they were building them ; and neither was 

 far from the little mountain stream that drained the canyon. 



The third nest was most exceptional, I believe, in its location. We 

 made our headquarters for the month of May in a little 2-room cabin 



