SYI,\1('0LID.K— TUK WAKBLERS. 257 



nephew, Mr. C. P>. Deyou, Air. lUirnmiiiis visited lli^ same woods, in Ro.xlmry, 

 J^elawaro County, X. Y., in which he had in a previoiLS year found the nest 

 of the INfourning Ground Warbler. The trees were mostly hemlock, witli an 

 underj;Towth of birch and beech. They first noticed tlie parent birds with 

 food in tlieir bills, and then set al)0ut deliberately to find their nest by 

 watcliing their movements. But the birils were equally vigilant, and watched 

 them quite as determinedly. " It was dianmnd cut diamond." They were so 

 suspicious, that, after loading tlieir beaks witli food, tliey wmdd swallow it 

 themseh'es, rather than run the risk of betraying their secret by approaching 

 tlie nest. Tliey even apparently attempted to mislead them by being very ])ri- 

 vate and confidential at a point some distance from the nest. The two watched 

 the birds for over an liour, when the mosquitoes made it too hot for tliem to 

 111 ill I out any Ioniser, and they made a rush upon the ground, determined to 

 hunt it over incli by inch. The birds then manifested the greatest conster- 

 nation, and when, on leaping over an old log, the young sprang out with a 

 scream, Init a few feet from them, tlie distracted pair fairly threw themselves 

 under their very feet. The male bird trailed his bright new plumage in 

 the dust ; and his much more luimbly clad mate was, if anything, more so- 

 licitous and venturesome, coming within easy reach. The nest was placed 

 in the fork of a small hemlock, abont fifteen inches from the ground. There 

 were tour, and perliaps fi\'e, young in the nest, and one egg unhatched, which, 

 on blowing, proved to have been fresh. 



The nest measures three and a half inches in diameter, and a trifle more 

 than two in height. The cavity is liroad and deep, two and a third inches in 

 diameter at the rim, and one and a half deep. Its base and periphery are 

 loose aggregations of strips of decayed inner bark from dead deciduous trees, 

 chiefly basswood, strengthened by fine twigs, rootlets, and bits of wood and 

 bark Within this is a firm, compact, well-woven nest, made by an elabo- 

 rate interweaving of slender roots and twigs, hair, fine pine-needles, and simi- 

 lar materials. 



The egg is oval in shape, less obtuse, but not pointed, at one end, with a 

 grayish-white ground, pinkish when unblown, and marked around the larger 

 end with a wreath, chiefly of a bright umber-brown with lighter markings of 

 reddish-brown and obscure purple. A few smaller dottings of the same are 

 sparingly distributed over the rest of the egg. Its measurements are .70 by 

 .50 of an inch. It more nearly resembles the eggs of the £>. inarulosa than 

 any other, is alwut five per cent largei', a little more oblong, and the sjjots 

 dilfer in their reddish and purplish tinge, so far as one specimen may be 

 taken as a criterion. 



33 



