572 THE BIRDS OF MAINE 



and reeking with moisture. Here the nests are placed, at the 

 foot of a clump of ferns, on a mossy hummock, under a log, 

 in the upturned roots of trees very near the ground, and in 

 general similar situations, always near the ground. I have 

 usually readily found nests after they contained young, by 

 watching the parents carry food to them, but previous to the 

 eggs hatching generally the only way to discover a nest is 

 by flushing the female from it, which is a matter of some 

 difficulty. The nests are composed of fine strips of bark, dead 

 leaves and moss, lined with fine black rootlets. The eggs are 

 four or five in number, white, speckled and spotted with reddish 

 brown and lilac gray. The spots are most numerous about 

 the larger end, often arranged in a circle about the crown, 

 and the size averages about 0.68 x 0.51. As the nests I have 

 found from May thirtieth to June twentieth have contained 

 young, I would infer that eggs might be found in late May 

 and early June. 



Genus SETOPHAGA Swainson. 



/ 



687. Setophaga ruticilla (Linn.). American Redstart. 



Plumage of adult male : above shining black, slightly browner on wings 

 and tail ; basal half of wing feathers and basal portion of all but the inner 

 tail feathers salmon ; throat and breast black ; sides of breast and flanks 

 deep reddish salmon ; belly white, tinged with salmon. Plumage of adult 

 female : back ashy, head grayish ; basal portions of wing and tail feathers 

 dull yellow in female instead of salmon ; sides of breast and flanks yellow ; 

 otherwise white below. Immature plumage : in general very similar to the 

 female, rather browner above, the yellow under parts lighter yellow or merely 

 yellow tinged, and the basal portion of wing and tail feathers paler yellow ; 

 the immature males assume patches of black with their first nuptial plumage, 

 and the second year become indistinguishable as a rule. Wing 2.50 ; tail 2.32. 

 Bill with bristles at base. 



Geog. Dist. — North America, breeding from North Carolina and Arkansas 

 to Labrador and Fort Simpson, and in Utah, Idaho, eastern Washington and 

 British Columbia ; wintering in the West Indies, eastern Mexico, Yucatan, 

 Guatemala and Ecuador. 



County Records. — Androscoggin; common summer resident, (Johnson)' 

 Aroostook; common, (Batchelder, B. N. 0. C. 7, p. 110) ; common in the Wool- 



