130 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 



summer so far to the southward as New England, though they 

 may occasionally do so. They are quite common in Eastern 

 Massachusetts between the tenth and the last of May, but I 

 have never seen them at other times of the year. They fre- 

 quent singly, or in pairs, woods, thickets, and the neighbor- 

 hood of streams and water. They usually, but not always, 

 remain near the ground among the bushes and shrubbery, often 

 snapping up insects in the air, and even seeming to turn sum- 

 mersaults. They are constantly active, and are among the 

 busiest of our transient visitors. 



(d). Their song is much like an extension of the Redstart's 

 notes, and not unlike the song of the common Yellow Bird (D. 

 cestiva), though rather less pretty. They have also a chip (a 

 chuck?) and some harsh notes, resembling the syllables zee-zee- 

 zee-zee, of which the latter are the lower in tone. 



XII. SETOPHAGA 



(A) RUTICILLA. Redstart. 



(In a greater part of New England a common summer-resi- 

 dent.) 



(a). About 5 1 inches long. , lustrous black. Sides of 

 the breast, patches on the wing, and basal half of the tail- 

 feathers, except the middle pair, flame-color, or in some places 

 nearly vermilion. Belly, white. <j> , greenish above, and white 

 beneath. Vermilion of the male simply yellowish. Wings 

 and tail elsewhere dark (the latter from below seeming almost 

 black-tipped, but otherwise yellowish). The female is rather 

 a nondescript in appearance. 



(b). The nest is placed in a fork, sometimes next to the 

 trunk, in a low tree or shrub, from five to twenty feet above 

 the ground. It is composed of thin strips of bark, dried 

 grasses, caterpillar's silk and other soft materials, and is some- 

 times lined with horse-hairs. The four or five eggs of each 

 set usually average *65 X '50 of an inch, and are white, with 

 purple or lilac, and brown (not very dark), scattered quite 

 thickly at the larger end and thinly at the other. They can 

 generally be easily distinguished. 



