464 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



winged warblers, in close proximity to the nesting sites of the Water thrush 

 and Maryland yellow-throat. It is not a warbler of the dense woodland, 

 but prefers an open growth of trees with a dense undergrowth of vines 

 and shrubbery. In Erie and Cattaraugus counties I have noticed the 

 nest usually concealed among a dense growth of ferns and blackberry 

 bushes close to the ground or resting upon it, a rather bulky affair con- 

 structed of weed stalks, leaves, grasses and strips of bark lined with fine 

 grasses and sometimes a few long hairs. The eggs are 3 to 5 in number, 

 usually 4, of a white ground color marked more or less thickly with spots 

 and blotches of reddish brown, gray and lavender. The average dimensions 

 are .68 by .52 inches. Nesting dates in central and western New York 

 vary from June i to 20, usual date June 6. 



" The song is very brisk and clear toned, a series of 10 or more short 

 notes uttered in rapid succession and with considerable snap, a very pretty 

 warble and one of the most noticeable warbler songs to be heard in the 

 east, frequently uttered during migration. The call, a peculiar ' tang' 

 is recognizable by its vigor and somewhat metallic or ringing tone " (Gerald 

 Thayer MSS.). Chapman syllabizes the song as " rup-it-che, rup-if-che, 

 rup-it-chitt-it-lit. ' ' 



Setophaga ruticilla (Linnaeus) 

 Redstart 



Plate 97 



Motacilla ruticilla Linnaeus. Syst. Nat. Ed. 10. 1758. 1:186 

 Muscicapa ruticilla DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. in, fig. 68 

 Setophaga ruticilla A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 3. 1910. p. 326. No. 687 

 setdphaga, from Gr., meaning insect-eating; ruticilla, from Lat., red-tail 



Description. Male: Colors salmon orange and black, the orange 

 appearing in 2 conspicuous patches on the sides of the breast and 

 zones through the basal portion of all the wing feathers and the basal 

 portion of all the tail feathers except the central pair; black forms nearly 

 all the remaining upper parts, especially the head, neck, back, the greater 

 portion of the wings, the central tail feathers and the terminal zone of 

 the tail; the central abdomen white. Female: Grayish olive brown where 

 the male is black on the upper parts and yellow where the male is orange, 



