Part 47

REDSTART Setophaga ruticilla (Linnæus)

Description.—Adult male: Glossy blue-black, with basal half of the wing-feathers and basal two-thirds of tail-feathers orange-pink, the sides of breast and flanks bright rosy orange, and the belly white. Adult female: Grayish above, white below; wings, tail, and sides of breast with the same pattern as male, but marked with yellow, not orange-pink. Young males: Like the females, but more or less mottled with black. During the young male’s first breeding season he looks much like the female; with the succeeding moult he assumes the plumage of the full adult. Length: 5½ inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—Abundant migrant and summer resident from early May to October, commoner in summer in more northerly and mountainous counties.

Nest.—A deep, firm, neat cup of fibers, cobwebs, and bark, saddled into the large crotch of a sapling from 5 to 20 feet from the ground. Eggs: 3 to 5, white, speckled with gray or brown, chiefly at larger end.

Here is a bird well worth finding. It is common and confiding, but its gorgeous plumage never fails to produce a gasp of amazement. As though the Redstart felt the need of making the most of his beautiful attire, he spreads his wings and tail, flashing them as he bustles about the twigs, fans them widely as he tumbles after an insect, and pauses in the sunshine a moment between his foraging expeditions. Even the female spreads her yellow-marked wings.

The song is not musical; it is wheezy and wiry, and not easily syllabized. It often ends with a decisive downward note.

Look for the Redstart in open woodlands.

PIPIT; TITLARK Anthus spinoletta rubescens (Tunstall)

Description.—A little larger than an English Sparrow. Grayish brown above, the edge of outer tail-feathers white; a buffy line over the eye; underparts buffy; breast and sides streaked with dark brown. If the bird be in the hand, the hind toe-nail, which is very long, will be noted. Length: 6½ inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—A rather irregular migrant from early April to mid-May and from late September to late October, sometimes fairly common, and often occurring in flocks; occasional in mild winters.

Here is a bird utterly unknown to the average citizen of Pennsylvania. It lives in the open fields or on bald hill-tops. The Pipit walks daintily, after the manner of a Horned Lark, and if frightened springs into the air, to bound away, uttering its simple call-note, tsit-tsit, tsit-tsit, as it disappears high in air. It almost constantly moves its tail in a wagging manner. The white-edged outer feathers should be noted.

MOCKINGBIRD Mimus polyglottos polyglottos (Linnæus)

Description.—Length of Robin, but slenderer. Light gray above, with whitish line above eye; wings and tail dark brown-gray, the primaries basally white, the outer tail-feathers white; underparts grayish white; eye pale yellow. Length: 10½ inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—Rare and irregular in the southernmost counties, where it may occur at any time of the year. It occasionally nests.

Nest.—Bulky, of twigs, lined with rootlets, placed in a bush or low tree. Eggs: 4 to 6, pale green-blue, spotted and blotched all over with brown.

The Mocker’s song is world-famous. It is a remarkable medley of bird-songs, varied with a few original whistles and cries. While singing, this bird often leaps into the air, to tumble back to his perch with loosely flashing wings and tail. He sometimes sings for hours at night. While rare in Pennsylvania, he seems to be extending his range gradually northward.

CATBIRD Dumetella carolinensis (Linnæus)

Description.—Smaller than Robin; slate gray with blackish crown, tail and wings, and rich red-brown under tail-coverts. Length: Almost 9 inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—Abundant migrant and summer resident from late April to early October, especially common in more cultivated districts; usually rare in wilder woodlands.

Nest.—A large, bulky structure of twigs, lined with rootlets or grape-vine bark. Eggs: 3 to 5, deep blue-green, glossy. Nests are placed in thickets or bushy trees, from 3 to 15 feet from the ground.

The Catbird’s colors, call-notes, and manners are easily remembered. He is plainly attired; his cat-like call is familiar; and his jaunty appearance in yard or orchard is instantly recognizable. His song, while varied and pleasing in spots, is interspersed with squeaks and chuckles which are not musical. As he sings, his tail droops, but when he is bustling about on every-day business he is given to changing his attitude with the passing instants—now he is fluffy, now sleek; up goes his tail; he jumps; he flashes his wings, droops them and spreads his tail. It takes many an insect and berry to keep so active an organism alive.

BROWN THRASHER Toxostoma rufa rufa (Linnæus)

Other Name.—Brown Thrush (erroneous).

Description.—Size of Robin, with longer tail. Rich, bright red-brown above, the wing-bars whitish, and a rather noticeably buffy line above eye; underparts whitish, heavily streaked with black, save on throat and middle of belly; eyes yellow. Length: 11½ inches.

Range in Pennsylvania.—An abundant migrant and summer resident from mid-April to mid-October.

Nest.—Large and strong, of twigs, lined with rootlets and strips of weed-stalks, usually placed in a bush a few feet from the ground. Eggs: 3 to 6, whitish, thickly and finely peppered with brown and gray.

The Brown Thrasher, with its short wings and long, brown tail, is a big relative of the wrens and is not a thrush. He lives in brushy pastures, where his rich, varied song, wherein all phrases are repeated twice as the music progresses, is given from a high bough. Disturb him in his thicket home and he scolds with a harsh chuck, coming close to peer with his startlingly golden eyes. Rightly has this bird been called the “Mocker of the North,” for its song is a succession of excellent imitations of many bird-songs, together with a few which are of the Thrasher’s own invention.

CAROLINA WREN Thryothorus ludovicianus ludovicianus (Latham)