1902] Kells Nesting of some Canadian Warblers. 185 



In an article on the " Wood Warblers of the Vicinity of 

 Montreal," by H. Venner, that writer speaking of this species, 

 says : " This delightful little warbler is exceedingly rare in Lower 

 Canada. Although nothing of a songster, its colors are very 

 bright and rich, and its plumage in general neat. A small 

 chirup is all that is heard from him as he flies from bush to bush. 

 This warbler is seldom met with in our vicinity ; one was shot 

 there about four years ago, and I have not heard of one been 

 seen since. Our museum has a very good specimen of this rare 

 bird. Certainly it does not breed here regularly, if at all. A 

 stray individual may sometimes remain to rear its brood on our 

 mountain, but not often. Audubon traced this warbler through 

 the upper part of New York, into Maine, the British provinces, 

 and the Magdalen Islands in the Gulr of St. Lawrence. Accord- 

 ing to his account the nest is usually placed on the horizontal 

 branch of a fir tree, seven or eight feet from the ground, and is 

 composed of strips of bark, mosses, and fiberous roots, lined with 

 fine grass and an inner lining of feathers. When this warbler is 

 feeding among the branches of a tree, one can hear quite distinctly 

 the snapping of its bill, as it pursues the insects from twig to 

 twig. It is very active, but as we mentioned before, has no real 

 song. Not even the pairing season does its notes become more 

 musical. Before dismissing this interesting bird, I may be 

 allowed to quote a few lines that Wilson has written respecting it. 

 He says : " It is very probable that they breed in Canada, but the 

 summer residents among the feathered race are little known, or 

 attended to. The habits of the bear, the deer, or the beaver, are 

 are much more interesting to those people ; and for a good 

 substantial reason, because more lucrative ; and unless there 

 should arrive an order from England for a cargo of the skins of 

 warblers and fly-catchers, sufficient to make them an object worth 

 speculation, we are likely to know as little hereafter as at 

 present. 



After reading the above article in the light of more recent 

 discoveries ; and scientific facts, the field ornithologist is likely to 

 be considerably surprised at the limited amount of knowledge 

 possessed by " the fathers" of American ornithology regarding 

 many of our woodland birds. The nesting habits of the black- 



