VOL. X. 



The OoLOGiST, 



ALBION, Is. Y.,JULY. 1893. 



NO. 



A Study in Orange and Black- 



Thinkinor tliat an artic-le on the Amer- 

 ican Roilstart, one (if the nnxst noiic- 

 able Itinls in the woods of this region, 

 miglit intere.st some of the reaiier.s of 

 the OiiLOGisT, I have enibotlied in this 

 article my experiem-e with, and notes 

 on, this bird since 1889. Most of ray 

 observations were made dui'ing 1890 

 and 1892, when they were very abund- 

 ant here, probably because these sea- 

 sons, being unusually wet, were char- 

 acterized by an abundance of small 

 insects, especially ilies and niosquitoe? 

 upon which this bird seems to live to a 

 large extent. 



In 1891 they were very scarce after 

 rlie migration ceased, (which was late 

 on account of the cold spring) very few 

 of them stajing to breed. I tliink it 

 quite possible that their southern limit 

 may l)e found to vary in this way. willi 

 the seasons. 



The Hrst males are usually seen ai)out 

 May "jih and the females follow closely. 

 They will increase to the 15th or 2()th 

 when the migrants will move on north. 

 During the spring of '91 they did not 

 come in any numl)ers until the loth and 

 nearly all passeil on in a few days. 

 During this period of migration the 

 male witli his striking colors seems to 

 be everywheie in suital)le woods, which 

 are those of a swampy character, com- 

 jiosed mostly of ileciduous trees. A 

 ft>w will be .seen in the more open 

 groves and orchards, and even along 

 the roadsides, in dooryards. etc. 



It must not be supposed that the 

 female is there in any fewer numbers, 

 iiut from hei- tamer colors and more 

 retiring disposition is not so often seen 

 :it this linu". Heing plainly attired she 

 1-; much more likely to escape observa- 

 tion than the male, whieii m.iy In- of 



some value to iier at times, though as 

 we shall see later on, she is just as well 

 calculated to defend herself as her mas- 

 ter, if not more so. 



I think thai the mating season comes 

 very soon after the migrants reach liere, 

 ))rol)al)ly from Ma^' loth to June 1st. 

 During this periocf the mile is in full 

 song, and the woods of his choice echo 

 and re-echo with the shrill notes of liis 

 song delivered in a succession of rather 

 high-pitched and decided notes. His 

 mate also gives utterance to a sweet 

 trill which is dilHcult to locate if she is 

 far olT. Latei" on tli male's song lie- 

 comes subdued to a liiiel^' modulated 

 trill, and the female, except for her 

 shrill warning call to him, is silent 



From June 1st to the oth the majority 

 of the Redstarts commence budding, 

 though one nest found May 29th luust 

 have been commenced aliont the 20th 

 as the eggs were siiglitly incubated. 

 By the 12th or 14th of June full sets 

 can be found in any suitable wood. 

 The nesting site is generally the up- 

 right crotch of s<mu> small an<l not very 

 brushy tree. Young, hard maples 

 ranging in diameter from one inch up 

 to four inches are the favorites. Have 

 also found nests in the following: elms, 

 beeches. soft nuiples, blue beech 

 slu'ubs, iilaek ash and basswood. 



Although as I have said they general- 

 ly sidect the main upright ci-oteh they 

 sometimes bulM between the trunk and 

 a small limb, and I would mention two 

 exceptional cases as follows: 



First. The nest was placed 20 ft 

 from the ground in the top rif a (! in. 

 hard maple which had l)een bioken oil 

 and sent out a number of small l»r:in«'h' 

 es. forming a sort of basin. The nest 

 was secur«dy j>l;ieed here and was near- 

 ly invisil)le from the gnuiud. 



Second. The nest was placid out on 



