456 NESTS AND EGGS OF 



A set in Mr. Norris' collection, taken at Waterville, California, May 6, 1875, gives 

 the following measurements: .6iix.48, .60x.49, .60x.48, .60x.48; another, collected at 

 Alameda, California, April 11, 1885: .57x.49, .58x.49, .58x.50. Average size, .60x.48 

 Inches. 



686. CANADIAIT WARBLER.' Sylvania canadensis (Linn.) Geog. Dist.— 

 Eastern North America, west to the Great Plains, north to Newfoundland, Southern 

 Labrador and Lake Winnipeg, south in winter through Eastern Mexico and Central 

 America to Ecuador. 



The Canada Flycatching Warbler breeds occasionally from the Middle 

 States, and regularly from New England northward. In other Northern States it 

 breeds sparingly. Mr. Robert B. Lawrence found a nest of the Canadian Warbler 

 in the mountains of Pike county, Pennsylvania, on June 9, 1887. The nest was 

 placed in the roots of an old stump, and contained four young birds and one un- 

 hatched egg. It has been known to nest in Northern Illinois. In some portions 

 of Canada it is a common breeder. Thomas Mcllwraith says that a few remain to 

 spend the summer in Southern Ontario, while the majority go farther north. Mr. 

 William L. Kells found it nesting in the low, swampy woodlands near Eistowel, and 

 obtained sets of its eggs in the latter part of May and first week of June. The nests 

 were found in the cavities of upturned roots of trees, and in the depressions in banks 

 near pools of water. They are generally well hidden by weeds or grass, and are 

 commonly placed on the ground, in underbrush, by the side of a log or at the foot of 

 a bush. Their composition is dry weeds, fine roots, with a lining of hair. The eggs 

 are four or five, white or buffy, speckled or spotted, chiefly round the larger end, 

 with reddish-brown and lilac-gray. Their average size is .68x.51 inches. 



687. AMERICAN REDSTART. Setophaga ruticilla (Linn.) Geog. Dist.— 

 Eastern North America, north to Fort Simpson, west to and including the Rocky 

 Mountains. In winter. West Indies, Eastern Mexico, Central America and south to 

 Northern South America. 



The richly-colored Redstart breeds in most of its United States range and where- 

 ever found in British America. It is an abundant breeding species from the Northern 

 States northward. Nests in May and June. In Ohio I have invariably found it in 

 the woods which are the favorite haunts of the Oven-bird, Senirus aurocapillus. 

 About four miles east of Columbus, in a thick damp woods gf about fifteen acres in 

 extent, I counted no less than twenty-seven nests in a single day. In many sections 

 the birds are really more common than the Yellow Warbler, D. wst'iva. The nest 

 built by the Redstart is a beautiful, compact, cup-shaped structure, made of shreds 

 of plants and hempen fibres, held together with spiders' webs; the lining is of fine 

 grasses and hair. It Is either saddled on a branch or placed in the forked twigs of a 

 small tree or sapling, usually from six to twelve feet above the ground, but often 

 as high as thirty. A curious habit of the Redstart is that of opening and closing its 

 fan-like tail while flitting about in the trees and bushes. The eggs are four, rarely 

 five, in number and they are subject to a remarkable variation In size and color. In a 

 large series the ground color will vary from white to greenish-white or grayish- 

 white. The markings are specks or spots of cinnamon-brown and lilac-gray, 

 chiefly round the larger end. Ten specimens selected on account of their sizes give 

 the following measurements: .57x.47, .60x.45, .61x.47, .62x.48, .64x.52, .66x.51, .67x.48, 

 .6SX.49, .(;9x.48, .70x.50 inches. 



