REDSTART. 617 



parts, pure iramboj^e yelluw. Youiii^f, brownish olive above, iiicludiiij^ top ami sides of head, becominiT 

 decidedly brown in the midille of the bacic. Wing coverts tijjpcd with light brown. Beneath, plain, dull 

 greenish, becoming more yellow behind. There is no black nor yellow on the sides of the head. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Known at once by the yellow beneath, with the black markings on the side of head, in the adult, and in 

 the young stage from the closely allied Connecticut, in the same stage, by the browner color above and indi- 

 cation of the brownish wing bars which the Connecticut never has. Breeds in Eastern United States, west 

 of the Alleghanies, north to New York and Southern Wisconsin ; winters in Eastern Mexico and Northern 

 Central America ; rare in the West Indies. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Length, o.l't to .'j ."iO : stretch, S.IO to S.GO ; wing, 2.50 to 2.70; tail, I.IX) to 2.1.'): bill, .42 to A')-, tarsus, 

 .Ho to .87. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGOS. 

 Ne.sts, placed on the ground in thickets, compo.-ied of an outside layer of leaves and coar.-^e grasses, 

 loosely arranged in which i.s a more compact structure of finer grasses, stems, and rootlets, lined with horse- 

 hair. Etiijs, four or five in number, oval in fjrm, creamy white in color, and finely dotted with umber, red- 

 dish brown and pale lilac, usually more thickly around the larger end. Dimensions, from .56 by .72 to 58 

 by .74. 



HABITS. 

 I liiive never seen a living specimen of this fine warbler, lint the late Col. N. S. Goss 

 in his birds of Kansas says that it inhabits low land thickets near water, and that it is of 

 shy and retiring habits seldom visiting the ojjen woodlands. In their cliosen retreats they 

 run actively about over the ground much like Water Tln'ushes, raising and h)-\vering their 

 tail as is practiced Ijy this species. He says "The song is loud and resembles tliat of tlie 

 Maryland Yellow-throat. " They breed about the 20th of Ma_\ . 



GENUS. SETOPHAGA. THE REDSTARTS. 

 GiCN. Oil. Bill, (|uite wide and flat, not acuminate, with the upper mandible slightly curved at the tiji- 

 Wings, quite long and pointed. Tail, long. Feet, small. Coracoid bones, a little less in length than the 

 top of the keel. Marginal indentations barely exceeding in depth the height of the keel, which is consider- 

 ably higher th.an one-half the width of the sternum. 



SETOPHAGA RUTIClLLA 

 Redstart. 



Setophaga ruticilla Swaiuson. Zo')l. Jour. Ill, 1S27. ;)5S. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Si'. Cli. Size, small. Form slender. Steninm, stoutly built. Tongue, thin, horny, wide, smnewliat 

 rounded at the end, which is slightly cleft and fringed with delicak' cilia tliat extend along tlie sides for 

 about one-fourth the terminal length. 



Color. Adult m.ale. Entire upper parts, sides nf head, throat and upper portions of the breast, glossv 

 ■black. Basal half of prim.aries and secondaries, basal two-thirds of tail feathers, except the two central, 

 sides, flanks, under wing coverts, under lining of wings, including auxiliaries and under wing coverts, edging 

 on the outer webs of primaries, and a narrow, irregular band across the breast, bright orange. Remainin.r 

 mnder parts, including under tail coverts, white, more or le.is tinged with orange; center of the feathers of 

 «ii£ latter, dusky. Ring around the eye also white. The adult male in autumn sometimes has the back 



