AMERICAN REDSTART. 
687. NSetophaga ruticilla. 5% inches. 
Male, black, orange and white; female, grayish, yel- 
lcw and white; it requires two or three years to attain 
the black plumage of the male, in the intermediate 
stages they are sometimes strangely mottled. 
in the northeastern half of the United States, these 
are one of the commonest and most active of the species. 
30th the males and females seem to be proud of their 
handsome plumage and are continually spreading and 
closing their tails. They are equally happy whether in 
the tree tops or near the ground, and are as often found 
in the one place as the other. 
Song.—Che-wee, che-wee, che-wee,” very similar to 
that of the Yellow Warbler and also the Chestnut-sided 
Warbler. 
Nest.—Of plant fibres and grasses in forks of bushes 
or trees, usually at greater heights than those of the 
Yellow Warbler; eggs whitish specked with brown. 
Range.—N. A., rare west of the Rockies, breeding 
from North Carolina and Missouri northward; winters 
south of the U. S. 
