Plate LI. 



SETOPHAGA RUTIGILLA-American Redstart. 



The American Redstart is a common summer resident throughout the State. It arrives from the 

 South the last of April, -or the first of May, and remains until the middle of September or later. It, 

 frequently rears two broods during the season, the first nest being constructed about the loth of May, 

 and the second early in July. June 14th, 1883, I saw a Redstart feeding her young; they were out of 

 the nest and well able to fly; and on August 1st, I saw another young brood following their mother. 



LOCALITY: 



The nest is usually on a sapling, sometimes on a branch of a tree, in dense woods. Occasionally it 

 is in an isolated tree in town or country. During the nesting-season, I have always found the Red- 

 start the most plentiful in woods along rivers and creeks; but, on account of the heavy undergrowth in 

 such localities, it is very difficult to discover their nests. 



POSITION : 



The nest is usually built either in an upright crotch formed by two or more branches, or is placed 

 against the trunk of a slightly inclined sapling where one or more small twigs or leaf-stems put forth. 

 Occasionally it is fastened to a perpendicular trunk, and is unsupported by branches or leaf-stems. When 

 in a fork, it is generally at the bifurcation of the main trunk, and, whatever its position, is but 

 rarely concealed or protected by foliage. Its distance from the ground varies from five to twenty feet, 

 ten or twelve feet being the ordinary height. Although often built at the bifurcation of the trunk, or of a 

 branch of a sapling, it is not saddled in the crotch. A fork narrower than the nest is selected, and then the 

 nest is placed against the branches in such a manner, that a perpendicular line drawn through its center is 

 exterior to the main stem. It also differs from other nests situated in forks, in the fact that the ma- 

 terials of construction are fastened to the bark instead of being wound around the branches. 



MATERIALS: 



A nest found May 15th, 1880, was situated nine feet from the ground, at the bifurcation of an elm 

 sapling. Its foundation and superstructure are composed of gray flaxen fibres from the inner-bark of a 

 weed, probably the common milk-weed. Some of these fibres run completely around the nest, especially at 

 the rim, which is slightly contracted, but the majority begin and end at the branches, the bark of which 

 is rough and affords good points of attachment for the fibres. None of the fibres are wound around the 

 branches. In several places bits of web are attached to the bark, and to the nest. The lining is com- 

 posed of long white, black, and red horse-hairs arranged circularly, and at the rim felted with fine vege- 

 table fibres which are continuous with the foundation and superstructure. The nest is quite round, and 

 measures two and one-eighth inches in external diameter, by two and one-fourth in external depth. The 



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