PINE WARBLER. 389 



boughs of the pine or cedar in perpetual quest of his un- 

 tiring prey. This song is commonly heard at a consid- 

 erable distance from his mate and nest, from whom he 

 often widely strays, according to the success of his pre- 

 carious pursuit. As the sound of the warble varies from 

 slender to high or low, it is often difficult to discover the 

 retreat of the little busy musician, which appears far or 

 near with the modulation of his almost ventriloquous note. 

 The female likewise tunes, at times, her more slender 

 lay in a wiry tone, almost like that of the S. varia, in 

 early spring- 

 About the 7th of June (1830) I discovered a nest of 

 this species in a Virginian juniper, near Mount Auburn 

 in this vicinity, at the height of about 40 feet from the 

 ground. It was firmly fixed in the upright twigs of a 

 close branch. The nest was thin, but very neat ; the 

 principal material was the wiry old stems of the slender 

 knot-weed [Polygonum tenuc), circularly interlaced, and 

 connected externally with rough linty fibres of some spe- 

 cies of Asclepias, and blended with caterpillars' webs. 

 The lining was made of a few hogs' bristles, slender 

 root-fibres, a mat of the down of Fern stalks, and one or 

 two feathers of the Robin's breast ; a curious medley, 

 but all answering the purpose of warmth and shelter for 

 the expected brood. I saw several of these nests, which 

 had at different times been thrown to the ground, and in 

 all, the wiry grass and general material were the same 

 as in the one now described ; and this, of course, is en- 

 tirely different from that given by Wilson on the author- 

 ity of Mr. Abbot. The nest, there mentioned, is noth- 

 ing more than the usual pendulous fabric of the Red- 

 eyed Warbling Flycatcher. The eggs in ours were 4, 

 and, advanced towards hatching, they were white, with a 

 slight tinge of green, very full of small pale brown spots, 

 33* 



