ORNITHOLOGY 



333 



placed upon the i^rouiul almost com- 

 pletely hidden among the surrounding 

 growth. It was com])ose(l of dead 

 leaves, thickly lined with grapevine 

 bark and dried grasses, and was very 

 compactly woven together. Within 

 this deep, soft cup were five l:)eautiful 

 eggs ; cream^■-^vhite, with a thin wreath 

 of very dark brown, or l)lack, spots en- 

 circling the larger ends. These eggs, 

 which were qttite roiuided, more close- 

 ly resembled the type of the blue-wing- 

 ed than those of the golden-winged 

 warbler. In shrubs within six feet of 

 this nest were also the nests of a yellow 

 warbler and a rose-breasted grosbeak. 



After studying the nest and its sur- 

 roundings, we spent some time in 

 watching the male, who appeared to 

 make his haunts al:)OUt a group of oaks 

 some two hundred yards distant. Here, 

 as he perched for ten minutes in one 

 position in the top of one of the oak 

 trees, I listened to his weak, lisping 

 song, which was frequently uttered and 

 seemed identical with the song of the 

 golden-wing : — being a wheezy "Zee — 

 zee — zee" in a grasshopper-like note, 

 sometimes in three syllables and some- 

 times in four ; the first note being high- 

 pitched and the others low. Each time 

 the l)ird repeated this song he would 

 o]Den his bill and throw back his head, 

 as if to give more force to the utter- 

 ance. 



A\'hat seemed to be a rather curious 

 coincidence with the study of these 

 birds as noted here, was the finding on 

 the following day of another Brewster's 

 warl)ler (the fourth record for the 

 state) in a scrubby tract of growth in 

 Hyde Park, within a few miles of the 

 nest just described This bird, — a male, 

 — was discovered by its almost constant 

 singing, while it remained in the low 

 scrub oak and birch growth, flitting 

 about under the bushes and feeding 

 upon the worms and insects. 



This bird proved to be decidedly dififer- 

 ent in its markings from thos€ noted at 

 the Arboretum , and was altogether an un- 

 usual specimen. Its crown was yellow • 

 with a few dark feathers. The entire, 

 back and wino^s.were greenish-yeljow ; 

 some of the wing feathers being bluish- 

 grav edged with greenish; the tail, was. 

 bluish-gray above, with the three^ outer 

 feathers on either side partially white, , 



NEST AND EGGS OF BREWSTER'S W\\RBLEIi. 



and the under sides of both wings and 

 tail were light gray. There were two 

 yellow bars on each wing, these being 

 not so broad as in the typical golden- 

 wing. There was a black line through 

 the eye, and a little whitish on the sides 

 of the neck. The throat, breast, sides 

 and belly were decidedly yellow, this 

 color being strongest on the breast. A 

 few bluish-gray feathers were scattered 

 through those of the back and wings. 

 The hazel eye, black bill and greenish- 

 black tarsi and feet were typical. 



According to the second annual re- 

 port of the "Preliminary Census of 

 Birds of the United States" under the 

 auspices of the U. S. Department of Ag- 

 riculture, there are 124 pairs of nesting 

 birds on an average on each farm of 

 108 acres in our northeastern states. 

 Many individual instances have been 

 reported where the bird population has 

 been enormously increased on such 

 areas by protection and methods of at- 

 tracting them : One hundred and 

 ninety-two pairs on 44 acres at Indian- 

 apolis, Ind. ; 189 pairs on 23 acres at 

 Chevy- Chase, Md., and 70 pairs on 

 eight acres at.Olney, 111., being among 

 the most prominent instances of this 

 nature. 



