634 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
in New Mexico more commonly than these few records would indicate.—W. W. 
Cooke. 
Nest. —Usually in an upright crotch of a tree; gray, cup-shaped, compact, 
woven with plant fibers, spider web, inner bark, and grasses; lined with fine grasses 
and hair. Eggs: Usually 4, creamy, grayish, or greenish white, spotted chiefly 
around the larger end with brown and lilac. 
General Habits. —The handsome black and orange or salmon Red¬ 
start is one of the flycatching Warblers, and so is constantly on the 
wing chasing madly through the greenery, suddenly dropping as if 
shot, only to snap up its fly and dart off to begin its bewildering chase 
again. It has a variety of songs, one reeled off and accented at the end. 
Additional Literature.—Miller, O. T., Little Brothers of the Air, 48-60, 
1892.— Pearson, T. G., Educational Leaflet 86, Nat. Assoc. Audubon Soc. 
PAINTED REDSTART: Setophaga picta Swainson 
Plate 1 
Description. — Male: Length (skins) 4.8-5 inches, wing 2.7-2.9, tail 2.4-2.7, 
bill .3, tarsus .6. Female: Length (skins) 4.9-5.3 inches, wing 2.0-2.8, tail 2.4-2.5, 
bill .3, tarsus .6. Adults: Black , except for red of belly , and white of eyelid , wing patch , 
outer tail feathers , and under tail coverts. Young in first plumage: Sooty black, the 
belly more or less mixed with whitish, wings and tail as in adults. 
Range. Breeds in high Upper Sonoran and low Transition Zones in mountains 
of southern and central Arizona, western New Mexico, Coahuila, and Nuevo Leon, 
and south over mountains of Mexican tableland region, Vera Cruz, Oaxaca, and 
Guerrero to Guatemala and Honduras. Accidental in California. 
State Records. —From its main summer home in Mexico and Arizona, the 
Painted Redstart comes into western New Mexico. One was seen in June, 1909, 
at 9,100 feet, on the crest of the Zuni Mountains; [it is fairly common as far north as 
Monticello and Alma (Ligon, 1916-1918). A specimen was taken on May 10, 1924, 
on Walnut Creek in a mountain canyon, where the birds where apparently about 
to breed (Kellogg). A nest with three fresh eggs was found May 11, 1924, in the 
Animas Mountains, Hidalgo County, 32 miles south of Animas, at 7,500 feet (Ligon).] 
Judging by its habits in Arizona, it generally breeds in western New Mexico at 5,500- 
8,000 feet. It was seen in May, 1906, at 6,500 feet, on the Mimbres (Bailey); noted 
July 5-17,1892, in the Ban Luis Mountains (Mearns); several seen July 26 to August 9 
at 5,800-7,500 feet on Indian Creek in the Animas Mountains (Goldman); two, 
molting and evidently breeding birds, August 21, 1908, at 8,000 feet, on little Rocky 
Creek, and one August 23, on Diamond Creek, both in the Gila National Forest 
(Bailey); one August 31, 1886, at Apache (Anthony). 
In the fall, they linger late, in the south. Several were seen September 20, 1908, 
/ ,000-7,800 feet in the Burro Mountains (Goldman). The last one was noted at 
Cooney, September 19, 1889 (Barrell); and in the San Luis Mountains, September 
29, 1893 (Mearns). 
In the spring it arrives very early for a Warbler, since the first was noted on 
March 26, 1889, at Cooney (Barrell); and the species was common two days later. 
This is probably about an average date for the arrival. [Two were seen, April 2, 
1920, 4 miles west of Chloride, on Chloride Creek, at 6,500 feet. Three were seen, 
April 19, 1919, on the G. O. S. Ranch, about 35 miles northeast of Silver City, near 
7,500 feet.l It also was seen at Chloride on April 20,1915 (Ligon).—W. W. Cooke. 
