BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 383 



common, while in others it is very rare. I have no positive 

 assurance that it breeds within the State, yet from what I 

 know of the history of this bird, I cannot divest myself of the 

 expectation that before very long we shall find the nests. It 

 is occasionally seen in the last days of August or the first days 

 of September, associated with other species, apparently on its 

 way southward, from which I conclude the breeding localities 

 are not for removed. It has long been observed that the notes 

 of this species very strongly resemble those of the Chestnut- 

 sided Warbler {D. iiensylvanica {Linn.).) and my own observa- 

 tion accords with it, for I am not entirely sure that I have ever 

 been able to quite distinguish them, if I have really heard 

 those of this finely plumaged species. While with us for 

 about ten days (arriving commonly about the 10th or 12th of 

 May) they are not very difficult to distinguish by their plum- 

 age, and have received attention from many observers. Their 

 habits of feeding are very much like those of creepers follow 

 ing the trunks and lower branches of large trees to their 

 extremeties in search of insects and larv86. They invariably 

 visit Nicollet island, in the center of Minneapolis, in their 

 migrations, and as they are not at all timid, I have had re- 

 peated opportunities to observe them there for many years at 

 such times. Remarkably gentle, and quietly pre-occupied, 

 they take little notice of the presence of "interviewers," or 

 the impertinence of the police of science or sentiment. Their 

 busy satisfied manners, and soft utterances of their e-e-a-e-e-a, as 

 they trace their sinuous way up the trunk and out along the 

 sturdy limb, impress themselves indelibly upon the memory of 

 anyone interested in the life-history of birds. Their nest and 

 eggs have been best described by the great field ornithologist, 

 Mj'. C. J. Maynard, as follows: "It was placed on the forked 

 branch of a low spruce, about three feet from the ground on a 

 rising piece of land, leading from a wood path. The nest, 

 which contained four eggs, was constructed of dry grass, 

 spruce twigs, roots, etc., and was lined with fine black roots, 

 the whole being a coarse structure for so dainty looking a 

 warbler. The eggs were more spherical than any other 

 warbler's I have ever seen. The ground color is a cream 

 white, blotched sparingly over with large spots of lilac and 

 umber." 



Note. In one spring I recall the pleasure I had in frequent 

 interviews enjoyed with Mrs. Sara A. Hubbard of Chicago, 

 who was visiting her brother. Col. David Blalcely, then editor 



