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PASSERIFORMES 
687. American Redstart, la fauvette flamboyante. Setophaga ruticilla. 
L, 5-41. Plate LXX A. Adult male: shining black with white abdomen and undertail- 
coverts, orange spots at sides of breast, on wings, and sides of tail. Female and juveniles 
with black replaced by dull olive, changing to greyish on head and brown on wings and tail. 
Throat dusky white, changing to white below. Spots at sides of breast and on wings and 
tail similar to those of the male but reduced to dull yellow. 
Distinctions. A perfectly characteristic bird in all plumages. No other warbler 
has anything like this combination of orange-red and black, the former replaced in female 
by similar yellow or white patches on tail and wings. Juveniles have a slight yellow 
suffusion over breast and are without the wing blotch, but that of the tail is always present. 
Some young males in the spring look like females, but with irregular patches of the perfect 
male plumage showing on throat. 
Field Marks. Colour is the most easily noted distinction, but even in black silhouette, 
the manner in which the long tail is thrashed about soon becomes familiar and distinctive. 
Nesting. In the crotch of a sapling in nest of fine strips of bark, fibres, and plant- 
down lined with tendrils and fine rootlets and nearly always covered outside with silvery 
bark strips. 
Distribution. North America and northern South America. In Canada north to the 
Mackenzie and northern British Columbia. 
The brilliancy of a high-plumage Redstart against the dark green of 
the trees is a constant source of pleasure to even the most blas6 observer 
and is a sight that never loses its charm. Its sprightly movements, con- 
stant fluttering, and spreading of wings and tail give it a vivacity that few 
other species exhibit. Like many other American birds it was named by 
early settlers who regarded it as a familiar Old World form, though the 
resemblance is far from close. 
FAMILY— PLOCEIDAE. WEAVER FINCHES 
An Old World family having no native American representatives. 
One species has been successfully introduced, the English Sparrow. It 
was long classified under the sparrows but has lately been referred to this 
family. 
Introduced: 
English or House Sparrow, le moineau do.uestique. Passer domesticus. L, 
6-50. Plate LXX B. Male: striped with chestnut and black on back; crown slaty and 
broad bar from eye to shoulders chestnut; cheeks and below r , white or whitish, with exten- 
sive black throat and breast patch. Female: general dull olive or dirty white below” 
back streaked with olive and brown; a white wing-bar. 
Distinctions. Black bib of the male is distinctive. Females have an olive suggestion 
and might be confused with the female Purple Finch w r ere it not that they are unstreaked 
below'. The female or autumn plumages of the bobolink are somewhat suggestive of this 
plumage, but the pronounced streakiness above and the general yellowness are quite 
distinctive of the bobolink. With a little observation of the species in our streets or 
barnyards, no one need confuse this species with anything else. 
Field Marks. The characteristic notes and chirrups of the English Sparrow make the 
best recognition mark in the field. The male carries a conspicuous black bib and throat 
and prominent white wing-bars. 
Distribution. Originally distributed over all Europe and most of Asia. Now r found 
throughout North America to the limits of settlement and in places beyond. 
This bird is not native to America, but is one of our most undesirable 
importations from Europe. In spite of its obvious seed-eating habits and 
structure, it was originally introduced as a caterpillar destroyer. It does, 
of course, like nearly all birds, sometimes eat caterpillars, but does not 
approximate in this direction the capacity of the birds it has displaced. 
Being a bird of cities and barnyards most of its activities are in localities 
where there is plenty of food of non-insectivorous character, garbage, waste 
