BED START. 
69 
GENUS VII. SETOPHAGA. THE REDSTARTS. 
Gen. Ch. Bill, quite wide and flat, not acuminate, with the upper mandible slightly curved at the tip. Wings, quite 
long and pointed. Tail, long. Feet, small. Coracoid bones, a little less in length than the top of the keel. Marginal 
indentations barely exceeding in depth the height of the keel, which is considerably higher than one-half the width of the 
sternum. 
SETOPHAGA RUTICILLA. 
Redstart. 
Setophaga ruticilla Swainson, Zool. Jour., iii, 1827, 358. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Sp. Ch. Size, small. Form, slender. Sternum, stoutly built. Tongue, thin, horny, wide, somewhat rounded 
at the end, which is slightly cleft and fringed with delicate cilia that extend along the sides for about one-fourth 
the terminal length. 
Color. Adult male. Entire upper parts, sides of head, throat and upper portions of the breast, glossy black. 
Basal half of primaries and secondaries, basal two-thirds of tail feathers, except the two central, sides, flanks, under 
wing coverts, under lining of wings, including axillaries and under wing coverts, edging on the outer webs of 
primai’ies, and a narrow, irregular band across the breast, bright orange. Remaining under parts, including under 
tail coverts, white, more or less tinged with orange; centre of the feathers of the latter, dusky. Ring around the 
eye, also white. The adult male in autumn sometimes has the back tinged with orange. 
Adult female. Above, plain greenish-brown; the tail is darker and has the basal two-thirds of all except the 
two central feathers, pale yellow. Beneath, dirty-white, with the sides, under wing coverts and under surface of 
wing tinged with yellow, which color is faintly visible near the middle of the outer side. 
Young male of the second year has the body, above and below, colored as in the female, excepting that there are 
more or less black feathers on those portions which are dark colored in the adult. The lores are always black. The 
wings, tail, and other parts which are orange in the mature specimens, are yellow, but with an occasional irregular 
tingeing of orange. 
Young male of the first year exhibits but few or no black feathers, and no orange tingeing on the yellow. 
The young female is similar to the adult, but with yellow of the tailless extended. 
The nestlings of both sexes resemble the young female with the addition of two yellowish-white bars across the 
wings, and a general suffusion of the same color over the entire surface of the body. At this age the lower mandible 
and feet are inclined to be light brown, but in all other stages the bill and feet are dark brown. The irides are 
always brown. 
OBSERVATIONS. 
This species is very much inclined to melanism, the black frequently extending down on the breast and obscuring 
the orange. It is also quite common to find traces of albinism. Another peculiarity may be seen in the fact that 
the orange is apt to appear anywhere, especially on the back. Mr. Deane has a specimen singularly mottled with 
orange, white and black. The colors appear to be in about the usual proportions, but are mixed in a promiscuous 
manner. 
The well marked Redstart need not be confounded with any other species, as there are no others which are 
colored with orange. Distributed during the breeding season throughout Eastern United States north to 
Labrador. Winters in the West Indies, Mexico and Central America. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Average measurements of twenty-eight specimens. Length, 5-37; stretch, 7*75; wing, 2-50; tail, 2T8; bill,-36; 
tarsus, '65. Longest specimen, 5-65; greatest extent of wings, 8T0; longest wing, 2-60; tail, 2-50; bill, *40; tarsus, 
•70. Shortest specimen, 5-25; smallest extent of wings, 7-50; shortest wing, 2-31; tail, 2-00; bill, -30; tarsus, *60. 
DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 
Nests, placed in trees. They are compact structures, composed of the soft, fibrous bark of trees, pine leaves, 
dead grasses, weeds and fine roots, neatly woven together; lined with horse hairs, feathers or fine grasses. 
Dimensions : external diameter, 2-50 inches, internal, 1-50; external depth, 2 inches, internal, 1-50. 
Eggs, usually four in number, spotted and blotched with reddish-brown and lilac. These spots are not numerous 
on the smaller end but generally become confluent on the larger and form a ring. Dimensions, from ‘66 x -47 to 
•70 x -50. 
