American Redstart, ( Setophaga ruticil- 
la,) also nested quite plentifully here last 
season. One of the loveliest nests I took 
in May, 1881, with a set of four eggs; it 
was built in an oak sapling, at a height 
level with the eyes ; it separated into three 
equal branches, the nest cavity in the cen- 
tre. One might stand a foot distant and 
see nothing but a swelling, seemingly 
caused by the branches; so neat, compact 
and in mimicry to the tree trunk is the 
structure built. 
Notes, Fairburg, III, *4- (&■ 
O.&O. Vlll. Feb. 1883. p . 9 
Curious Nest of the Redstart . — When 
passing through clumps of woods or 
bushes, collecting nests and eggs, I follow 
the practice of removing any old nest in 
reach that I may see, so that on some 
future trip it may not lead me out of my 
course. On June 10th, 1880, 1 had lowered 
a branch, attached to which was an old 
Red-eyed Yireo’s nest. Upon looking in- 
to it, I was surprised to find four spotted 
eggs, entirely different from those of the 
Vireo ; so replacing the branch and retreat- 
ing a short distance, I awaited develop- 
ments. Soon a female Redstart ( Setopha- 
ga ruticilla) alighted near the nest and 
after a few moments settled down into it. 
The little occupant had relined the old 
weatherbeaten nest with fine grasses, thus 
covering the thin places, making the oth- 
erwise untenantable nest a comfortable 
home. — A. K. Fisher, M. I)., Sing Sing. 
O.&O. Vll- M n.\r JftRO p /if. 
JjAvitsi, //. yfasPvtsVS., 
June 7. To woods all day and worked hard. 
0,tO [ left home at eight o’clock ; on way out found 
l/crlt? Redstart’s nest just built ; kept on and hunted 
up another Ruby and stayed with him until 
in the evening, hut do what I could, i 
/.•fir could not place the nest, although 1 went over 
and over the ground and climbed tree after 
tree. One of the big black spruces that 1 
went up, 1 was surprised to find way up in the 
top out on one of the limbs a Myrtl e Warbler ’s 
nest with four eggs. This nest was up fully 
forty feet ; eggs were slightly incubated, hut 
were nicely blown. I took nest of Song 
Sparrow found on the 6th with three eggs ; 
to-day it held five, all fresh. 
Tn 
to gr 
woul 
The 
(.55 i 
great 
The 
Milat 
Gran. 
.484. 
.68 to 
is aba 
702. 
Ibid. 
years. 
i66 5. Vo^eLife oftke Redstart. By Olive Thorne Miller. No 
©,& o, Vol t VlU 
Redstart (SetonMga ruticill a). Locally com- 
mon, being for the most part confined to the 
birch and cedar thickets, where the majority 
breed. Out of several nests which we exam- 
ined a single exception was placed otherwise 
than in one of those mentioned trees. In the 
densest thickets which we canvassed they were 
not unfrequently found, while again, per contra, 
their nesting was noted a few rods from an in- 
habited dwelling in the interior. This latter 
instance is deemed exceptional, however, and 
from our notes gathered, the Redstart of Manan 
is evidently retiring in habits, not shy, how- 
ever, as on no occasion did they discourage our 
approach, nor evince fear while we remained in 
the vicinity of their domiciles. On one occasion 
I sat on an old brush fence for fully thirty min- 
utes watching the female at work, less than a 
rod away and myself in open view. She seemed 
to be aware that 1 was watching her move- 
ments, but this did not deter her, for she con- 
tinued to labor unceasingly though an instinc- 
tive coyness was displayed in gathering the 
material, which I noticed she did not procure 
in the direction I was resting, and that her ap- 
proach to the nest was invariably made from 
the opposite side of the thicket to that on 
which I sat. By far the most beautiful nest of 
this species which I have ever seen was found 
on Hay Island on June 11th. This bulky fabric 
was composed almost entirely of white feathers 
and down of the Herring Gull, intermixed with 
a small quantity of moss and hair. Resembling 
at a distance a huge snow ball, it was a con- 
spicuous object about three feet up in the ever- 
green, and examination proved it to contain 
three, such large and strangely marked eggs, 
that until the female appeared. I had made up 
Her 
I 
am reluctant to say, to my regret. 
'02. American rr, ,, . my mind that this was the, find of the day. He 
p. 31- Dates of its arritlT Locke Mi ^P" 0 diS P elled aU d0ubt ’ b ° WeVCr ’ “ d 
iV.ll on ir frv m \r rGirrpf.. 
CO 
CO 
r-» 
> 
o 
fc 
W 
d 
o 
:e 
m 
ill 
ie 
2 . 
p 
m 
jx 
tn 
37 Sept., 1 8 88, pp. .353-358. 
