226 The Ottawa Naturalist. [January 



on these the female was incubating^, and as the usual set of eggs of 

 this species numbers four, it was evident that the cow-bird had re- 

 moved one of the warbler's when she deposited her own ; this tramp 

 among birds, is one of the worst enemies with which the whole family 

 of the warblers has to contend : as many of their nests are found to 

 contain one or more, of the cow-bird's eggs ; and there is danger 

 that the progeny may destroy the whole brood in the nest of the 

 species in which it is cradled. On one occasion I found a nest of the 

 chestnut-sided warbler which contained four cow-bird's eggs, and 

 but one of the warbler's own. The eggs of this species are of a 

 whitish hue, with a very irregular wreath, or belt, of a brownish 

 color, around the larger end, and some dottlngs, sometimes of a 

 blackish hue on the middle surface ; the smaller end is unmarked. 

 The other nest of this species, noted on the same date, was near 

 the edge of the wood, and placed between several stalks of rasp- 

 berry vines, about two feet off the ground, and composed of 

 materials much similar to the other, with the exception of the 

 horse-hair lining, and was not so bulky in size — this on the 30th 

 of May, contained four eggs. A week after, two other nests of 

 this species were noted, both deeper in the wood, and both placed 

 in the forks of Utile maples : but at varying elevations from the 

 ground, one being about four feet, this contained four four eggs, 

 the other which contained three eggs, was about two feet off the 

 ground, and by the side of a pathway. In both cases these were 

 evidently advanced in incubation, and were not molested. I con- 

 cluded that in this tract of forest about a dozen pairs of this spieces 

 were breeding, but they have many enemies among other birds 

 and small animals. 



The chestnut sided warbler is among the first of the warb- 

 lers to make its appearance in this part of Ontario, usually when 

 the young underwood is beginning to put forth its leaves and the 

 earliest of our wild flowers are in bloom. This season I first 

 noticed the species on the 4th of May, and two weeks after its 

 advent it begins to nest. It is probable that as more small fruit 

 shrubs and vines are cultivated in the rural districts, that this 

 species, as well as others of our wild woodland birds, will yet be 

 found to make their summer haunts and homes in the vicinity of 



