130 LIFE- HISTORIES OF 7JIRDS 



of this bird, which he represents by the syllables 



' tsh^ tsJi- tsli- Islica sn n<>' crescendo. 



< 



The Prairie Warbler has been supposed by 

 Cassin to breed in New Jersey, near Philadelphia, 

 from the fact that young birds have been met 

 with during the breeding-season. Nuttall de- 



o o 



scribes the nest as non-pensile, placed in a bifur- 

 cating branch, and composed externally of strips 

 of red cedar, liber, caterpillars' silk, fibres of 

 Asclepias, with an internal lining of the down of 

 Gnaphalium plantagineum. The eggs are de- 

 scribed as being sharp at one end, and marked 

 with spots of light-brown and lilac-purple upon 

 a \\hite background, which are chiefly annulated 

 about the larger end. 



Several nests have been found in Lynn, by Mr. 

 Welch. One built on a wild rose, a few feet 

 from the ground, was compactly, elaborately, and 

 variously interwoven, principally of soft, inner 

 bark oi shrubs, with an intermingling of decayed 

 plant-stem.s, woody fibres, dry rose-leaves, frag- 

 ments of vegetables, and spiders' webs, &c.; the 

 whole being bound together and strengthened by 

 cotton-like vegetable fibres. The upper rim was 

 composed of vegetable roots and bark, strongly 

 interlacing each other. Internally,, their was a 

 layer of vegetable fibres, with a few horse-hairs. 

 In some nests, decayed leaves; in others, weather- 

 beaten cocoons; and, in others, the pappus of 

 plants are more noticeable materials than strips 

 of bark. 



