_Motacilla ruticilla_, LINN. Syst. Nat. 10th ed. 1758, 186 (Catesby,
Car. tab. 67). _Muscicapa ruticilla_, LINN.; GMELIN;
VIEILLOT; WILS.; BON.; AUD. Orn. Biog. I, pl. xl. _Setophaga
rut._ SWAINS. Zoöl. Jour. III, 1827, 358.—BON.; AUD. Birds
Am.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. (Ecuador, Bogota, Cordova, Oaxaca, City
of Mexico).—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1859, 12
(Guatemala).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 297; Rev. 256.—MAX.;
SALLÉ, P. Z. S. 1857 (St. Domingo).—NEWTON, Ibis, 1859, 143
(St. Croix; winter).—CAB. Jour. 1856, 472 (Cuba); 1860, 325
(Costa Rica).—GUNDLACH, IB. 1861, 326 (Cuba).—BRYANT, Pr.
Bost. Soc. VII, 1859 (Bahamas).—LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyc.
1861, 322 (Panama R. R.).—SAMUELS, 249. _Sylvania rut._
NUTTALL, Man. I, 1832, 291 (type of genus). _Motacilla
flavicauda_, GMELIN, I, 1788, 997 (♀).
[Illustration: PLATE XVI.
1. Setophaga ruticilla, _Linn._ ♂ Pa., 984.
2. Myiodioctes minutus, _Aud._ (Copied from Aud.)
3. “ pusillus, _Wils._ ♂ Cal., 7683.
4. “ “ “ ♀ Pa., 2325.
5. Setophaga ruticilla, _Linn._ ♀ Pa., 2281.
6. Myiodioctes canadensis, _Linn._ ♂ Pa., 945.
7. Progne subis, _Linn._ ♀ 40704.
8. Tachycineta bicolor, _Vieill._ ♂ Pa., 2896.
9. Hirundo horreorum, _Bart._ ♂ Pa., 1452.
10. Progne subis, _Linn._ ♂.
11. Tachycineta thalassina, _Swains._ ♂ Oreg., 1895.
12. Stelgidopteryx serripennis, _Aud._ ♂ 32269.
13. Petrochelidon lunifrons, _Say._ ♂ 6622.
14. Cotyle riparia, _Linn._ ♂ 20641.]
SP. CHAR. _Male._ Prevailing color black. A central line on the
breast, the abdomen, and under tail-coverts white; some feathers in
the latter strongly tinged with dark brown. Bases of all the quills
except the inner and outer, and basal half of all the tail-feathers
except the middle one, a patch on each side of the breast, and the
axillary region, orange-red, of a vermilion shade on the breast.
_Female_ with the black replaced by olive-green above, by
brownish-white beneath, the red replaced by yellow; the head tinged
with ash; a grayish-white lore and ring round the eye. Length, 5.25;
wing, 2.50; tail, 2.45.
HAB. Eastern and in part Middle Provinces of North America to Fort
Simpson, west to Great Salt Lake; Fort Laramie; Denver City; most of
the West Indies; Mexico to Ecuador.
The young male in early autumn greatly resembles in plumage the adult
female, but has the upper tail-coverts and tail deep black, sharply
contrasted with the olive of the rump, instead of having the upper
tail-coverts olive, the tail simply dusky; in addition the back is
more greenish-olive, and the abdomen and crissum pure white. The male
does not obtain the perfect adult plumage until about the third year.
[Illustration: _Setophaga ruticilla._
984]
HABITS. The so-called Redstart has an extended distribution from the
Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains, and from Florida to high northern
latitudes, having been found breeding at Fort Simpson by Mr. Ross, and
at Fort Resolution by Mr. Kennicott and Mr. Lockhart. It is generally
abundant in suitable localities, and probably breeds wherever found
north of the Potomac. It winters in large numbers in Guatemala and in
other parts of Central America, as well as in the West Indies. It is
common in St. Croix in the spring, and is especially seen about
houses, according to Newton. It remains there until the end of April.
Richardson found this species abundant on the Saskatchewan, as far to
the north as the fifty-eighth parallel. It appeared there the last of
May, and left early in September. He found it frequenting moist, shady
lands, flitting about among the moss-grown and twisted stems of the
tall willows that skirt the marshes. It was easily recognized by the
red lining of its wings as it flitted through the gloomy shades in
pursuit of mosquitoes and other winged insects.
Among the memoranda of the late Mr. Kennicott, we find two to the
effect that on the 26th of May he found both males and females of this
species common near Rainy Lake, and that on the 6th of June he also
observed these birds near Lake Winnepeg. June 14, at Fort Resolution,
he obtained a female Redstart with nest and four eggs. The nest was
built in the fork of a willow, in a thick but low wood of alder and
willow. It was entirely unprotected by leaves or branches. The female
was taken on the nest.
The Newtons found this a very common species in St. Croix, in the
spring of the year, and it was especially seen about houses. For about
a week, at the end of April, 1857, they were extremely numerous. On
their return from their summer quarters, they were first observed
September 6. Mr. Taylor also mentions them as common in Trinidad. Mr.
Ridgway found it a common species among the willow thickets of the
river valleys, west as far as the Great Salt Lake.
This species, in its spring and autumnal migrations, is abundant in
Louisiana and Texas, as well as in the Gulf States. Wilson speaks of
meeting with it in the then “Mississippi Territory.” Audubon gives it
as abundant in Louisiana, and Nuttall as found throughout Louisiana
and Arkansas into Mexico. Mr. Dresser also mentions it as very common
near San Antonio in the spring and autumn, arriving on the Medina the
27th of April.
Dr. Coues says that the Redstart near Washington is chiefly a spring
and autumnal visitant, and but very few remain to breed. In the spring
it is very abundant from April 25 to May 20, and in the fall from the
1st to the 20th of September, in all woody and swampy situations. He
found it in the habit of running along slender twigs, sideways, and
having a note very similar to that of _D. œstiva_.
Although placed among the _Oscines_, where, as an excellent singer, it
clearly has a good right to be classed, it is yet also a true
Flycatcher in habits and manners. It is a lively, active bird, ever on
the wing, and continually in pursuit of insects. In this pursuit it
never awaits the approach of its prey, but, espying them at a
distance, darts with great velocity in pursuit, and the continued
clicks of its bill attest the rapidity and frequency with which it
will overtake and catch insect after insect. Even when lamenting the
loss of a part of its brood, and flying around with cries of distress,
the sight of passing insects is a temptation not to be resisted, and
the parent bird will stop her lamentations to catch small flies.
Its notes are a varied twitter, rather than a song, a repetition of
two simple notes, uttered every few seconds as it seeks its prey,
flying among the thick foliage usually in dense groves. Its common
habit is to glide along a branch, between its smaller twigs, at times
darting forth into more open spaces in quest of insects it has espied.
Their nests are usually, though not always, built in a low branch,
eight or ten feet from the ground, in the midst of a thick grove. I
have known it to build in an open field and in close proximity to a
dwelling. It keeps to groves and thickets, and frequents moist places
rather than dry, evidently because of the greater abundance of
insects, and not because of timid or retiring habits. It is indeed far
from being timid, and will permit a near approach without any
exhibitions of uneasiness. When its nest is visited, the male bird
manifests great disturbance, and flies back and forth around the head
of the intruder with cries of distress. The female is far less
demonstrative, and even when her nest is despoiled before her eyes is
quite moderate in the expression of her grief.
Its flight is graceful, easy, and rapid, varied by circumstances as it
glides in its intricate course among small interlacing branches, or
darts rapidly forth into more open space. As it moves, it is
continually opening out, closing, or flirting from side to side its
conspicuous tail, the white spots in its expanded feathers constantly
appearing and disappearing.
In the construction of the nest there is a general uniformity of
character, although the materials differ and the localities are far
apart. They are never pendent, but are placed among three or more
small upright branches, around which it is firmly woven with vegetable
flax-like fibres. A nest obtained in Lynn, by Mr. George O. Welch (S.
I. 3,778), in June, measures two inches in height by three in
diameter. It is a small, compact, and homogeneous nest, composed
almost entirely of shreds of savin-bark intermixed with soft vegetable
wool. Within are loosely intertwined minute vegetable fibres and
strips of bark, and a lining of horsehair, fine pine leaves, and dry
grasses. The nest contained four eggs. Another nest found in Grand
Menan, June 24, 1851, was very similar in size, structure, and
materials. It was in the centre of a thick, swampy thicket, five feet
from the ground, and contained five eggs.
Another nest of this bird, obtained in Lynn by Mr. Welch, is only a
reconstruction of a nest begun by a pair of _Dendroica œstiva_, and
either abandoned by them, or from which they had been driven. Above
the original nest of the Warbler the Redstarts had constructed their
own. The base is composed of the downy covering of the under sides of
the leaves of ferns, mixed with a few herbaceous stems and leaves.
Within this was built an entirely distinct nest, composed of long and
slender strips of bark, pine-needles, and stems of grasses. These are
firmly and elaborately interwoven together.
A nest found in Hingham, built in a tree in an open space near a
dwelling, was seven feet from the ground, and of the usual size and
shape. In this the more usual strips of bark were replaced by hempen
fibres of vegetables, thistle-down, bits of newspaper, and other
fragments. Within is a strong lining of hair and fine stems of
grasses. In this nest there were two young, about half fledged, and
two eggs nearly fresh. The latter were taken, the female parent being
present and making only a very slight protest, stopping, from time to
time, to catch insects.
The eggs of the Redstart vary considerably in their size and in their
general appearance, but resemble somewhat those of the common Summer
Yellow-Bird. They vary in length from .55 to .68 of an inch, and in
their breadth from .45 to .53. Their ground-color is a grayish-white,
blotched and clotted with purple, lilac, and brown.