NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 439 



[764.] Cyanecula suecica (Lynn) [20.] 



Red-spotted Bluethroat. 



Hab. Northern Europe and Asia; casual in Alaska, 



This beautiful and interesting bird, known as the Blue-throated 

 Redstart, is widely distributed in the Old World, breeding in the more 

 northern portions — Norway, Sweden, Russia and Siberia. The nest 

 is placed on the ground, midst the larger herbage, in the cavities of \ 

 banks and under low brushwood, usually well concealed. It is com- 

 posed of dfy grass, moss, withered leaves, roots, and is lined with 

 finer mosses, hair and the down of cotton-grass. The eggs are four to 

 six in number, generally a greenish-blue, but varying to grayish- 

 green or olive ; they are spotted with reddish-brown, which is usually 

 thickest and deeper at the larger end. The average size is .75 x .53. 



765. Saxicola oenanthe (Linn;) [ai.J 



Wheatear. 



Hab. Europe, Northern Africa, Asia, Greenland and Labrador, straggling south to Nova Scotia, 

 Maine, Long Island and the Bermudas.. 



The well known Wheatear of the Old World is common in Green- 

 ' Ifind and probably also breeds in I^abrador. Dr. C. Hart Merriam 

 makes note of its probable breeding on the north shore of the Gulf of 

 St. Lawrence — at Godbout. A female was shot by Mr. Napoleon A. 

 Comeau, June 9, 1885, in which the eggs were pretty well developed. 

 Its n^ate was also seen and it is presumed that the birds would, in all 

 probability, have bred in the vicinity.* The Wheatear breeds 

 thi;oughout the British Islands, and in all of Northern Europe and 

 Asia. In the British Islands it begins to make its nest in May. This 

 is usually well hidden in the innermost recess of some crevice among 

 rocks, in an old wall, stone-quarry, gravel-pit, and frequently in a 

 ■; deserted rabbit burrow. Mr. Hewitson has known a pair to make their 

 nest in the deserted hole of the Sand Martin in a river bank. The 

 nest is rudely constructed of grass, moss, hair, wool, rabbits' fur, or any 

 Tubbish obtainable. The eggs usually range from four to six in num- 

 ber and are of a pale, plain greenish-blue. A set of four eggs collected 

 near Larne, Ireland, May 30, 1883, is in my collection. Their sizes are 

 .88 X .60, .88 X .59, .94 X .60, .99 X .61. 



766. Sialia sialls (Linn.) [22] 



Blneliird. 



Hab. Eastern United States, north to Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba, etc., west to the Rocky 

 Mountains. Resident in the Bermudas. 



There is not a song of an American bird which so strongly accents 

 the return of spring as does the subdued melody of the Bluebird. To 

 the naturalist -or to the lover of rural walks, the song of this bird is 



*Thc Auk, II, 305. 



