i8o The Ottawa Naturalist. [December 



which cannot be properly prepared for the cabinet, and it would 

 be a crime to take them. Or it may be that a nest is found just 

 ready for ej^gs, or containing only a partial set, in this case the 

 collector desiring a full set ol fresh eggs, leaves the premises, with 

 the intention of returning after a certain numbei of days. But on 

 the date intended, some other business, or a heavy rain may pre- 

 vent the re-visit, or should the return be accomplished after a long 

 and weary walk, it may be that an empty nest or a few bits of 

 egg-shells meet the collector, and rewards his toil. Such has been 

 some of my experiences. Prof Oliver Davie in the 4th edition of 

 his " Nests and Kggs of North American Birds," says : " The Bay- 

 breasted Warbler is known to breed from Northern New England 

 and Northern Michigan northward. Mr. William L. Kells found 

 it breeding in the vicinity of Listowel, Ontario, in low, swampy 

 woods, where is a mixture of evergreens, ash, birch, elm, and 

 other soft-wood trees. The nests are compact, cup-shaped 

 structures, usually placed in coniferous trees from five to fifteen 

 feet from the ground. Mr. Kells found a nest placed between a 

 slender limb and the trunk of a small cedar about five feet up ; 

 another was found in a hemlock at an elevation of fourteen feet." 

 Mr. Thomas Mcllwraith in his secondedition of the '* Birds of 

 Ontario", writing on this subject, says : " Listowel seems a 

 favorite locality with the warblers, and Mr. Kells evidently gives 

 them some attention, for this is another species which he found 

 breeding in a low, swampy mixed bush, not far from his home. 

 Mr. Kells found a nest placed between a slender limb and the 

 trunk of a small cedar, about five feet up. Another was 

 found in a hemlock at an elevation of fourteen feet." An article 

 of mine on the nesting of the bay-breasted warbler, published in 

 The Ornithologist and Oologist, vol. ii, was the source from 

 which Mr. Davie derived his information. Writing of this species 

 H. G. Venner recorded the following paragraph : "This species 

 is much rarer than the myrtle warbler. Very few individuals 

 breed in our vicinity. It is rare all through the United States, 

 and from all accounts must breed further north. Likely they 

 breed in Newfoundland and Labrador. Low thickets and tangling 

 shrubbery are favorite resorts of the species. Sometimes they 

 may be seen running along fence-rails, searching in every 



