70 SETOPHAGA KUTICILLA. 



HABITS. 



In May the dark forests of Florida are enlivened by the sprightly Redstarts. They dart 

 about among the rich foliage, now in shadow, now in sunlight ; displaying their brilliant orange 

 and jetty black plumage to fine advantage in contrast with the sombre colors of the tree-trunks 

 or long, hanging moss. Ever active, slender and lithe of form, they leap quickly into air or 

 pause for an instant, on a twig, with widely expanded tail and half open wings, while the flashing 

 black eyes are peering quickly from right to left in search of food ; then they are off like 

 meteors into the deciduous masses above ; thus they are always busy, chasing bright winged 

 insects all day long. But their stay is short in Florida, and in company with the great migratory 

 body of Warblers they pass onward to the north. 



While in the south the Redstart does not sing, but in the deep shady woods of New England 

 its short, abrupt, though not unmusical notes constantly ring out with an energy which 

 surpasses that of all the other smaller songsters. They sing without pausing in their avocations, 

 and even while they are flying rapidly through the trees, in playful pursuit of one another, snap 

 out a note or two, then, as they engage in a mock battle in which several males often participate, 

 utter a sharp twitter. The only other note I ever heard them emit was a chirp of annoyance 

 or alarm when they perceived an intruder. Although it is not difficult to recognize a Redstart 

 by its peculiar song, yet I have seldom heard two sing exactly alike, and the young males, which 

 have not acquired the plumage of maturity, have a weaker and more lisping melody. 



Although the mimic wars in which the Redstarts engage in early spring are mere sportive 

 affairs, yet when any particular pair begins to construct their nest, all such conflicts assume a 

 more serious aspect. Then woe betide the young swain that unfortunately approaches too near 

 the edifice of his brighter colored relative ! for he meets with a hostile reception, and, unless 

 he quickly beats a retreat, will quite likely mourn the loss of many feathers. Small birds of 

 other species are also unnecessarily attacked by this irritable tyrant and rudely expelled from 

 the vicinity of its nest. Those which breed in New England arrive from the South in early 

 May, and lay their eggs the first week in June. In July the hissing voices of the newly fledged 

 young may be heard in the woods as they follow their parents and supplicate for food; then in 

 September all depart for their southern home. 



FAMILY IX. HIRUNDINID^E. THE SWALLOWS. 



Wings, long and pointed. Feet comparatively small and weak. Bill, small, short, flat and triangular ; but with a 

 very wide gape, which extends back quite to the eyes. Coracoid bones, stout, much shorter in length than the top of keel, 

 and set on the sternum with the terminal ends projecting outward, forming a considerable angle with the keel. Furcula, 

 stout ; terminal expansion closely approximating the top of the keel, being connected with it by a stout ligature. 



All the members of this family are birds of strong flight, being capable of remaining on the wing for a 

 considerable length of time; also of performing rapid and graceful aerial evolutions. Their sterna are constructed in 

 -such a manner as to ensure strength for protracted exertion, as is exhibited in the angularly placed coracoid bones, 

 and in the terminal expansion of the furcula, which closely approximates the top of the keel, a character quite 

 unique among the Oscines which I have examined : being found iu but a single genus besides the Hirundinidaz, that 

 of Conns. 



GENUS I. HIRUNDO. THE SWALLOWS AND MARTINS. 



GEN. CH. Marginal indentations, rather shallow, barely equaling in depth the height of the keel. Top of keel but 

 slightly arched, there being a straight line from the tip to the end. Other characters the same as those used in describing 

 the family. 



I can find no characters of sufficient value, either external or internal, in the birds included by authors in the 

 genera Progne, Tachycineta, Cotyle, etc., to warrant my raising them to a generic rank; I have therefore reduced 

 them all to the old genus of Hirundo. 



