174 BIRDS OF FIELD, FOREST AND PARK 



In spring and summer the food of Myrtle 

 Warblers is insects and the eggs and larvae of 

 insects; but with the advancing season, they 

 change to a diet of berries of the Virginia creeper, 

 dogwood, seeds of the alder, and bay or myrtle- 

 berries. From this habit arises the bird's name. 

 Their love for this vegetable diet makes it pos- 

 sible for some of the more vigorous individuals 

 to winter farther north than any other Warbler. 

 They are said to sometimes remain all win- 

 ter in Massachusetts where bayberries abound. 

 In the vicinity of New York I have found them 

 in a tangle of catbrier and poison ivy in Decem- 

 ber. They breed from northern New England 

 northward, and, as a rule, winter from the Mid- 

 dle States southward to Mexico and Panama. 



Myrtle Warblers usually build in evergreen 

 trees, a nest of twigs and grass, with a lining of 

 hair, feathers or rootlets. The eggs are four or 

 five in number, grayish white, thickly speckled 

 with brown. This is one of the largest Warblers, 

 nearly six inches in length. 



Yellow Palm Warbler. A dainty little Warbler 

 that may be expected in the vicinity of New 

 York by mid -April, is the Yellow Palm. 

 They, too, winter in the near South, usually 

 in the Gulf States, so their spring journey 

 is much shorter than with those wintering in 

 the far tropics. During migration this is a bird 

 of the open coimtry, parks, fields and road- 

 side, with little liking for dense foliage of either 

 lawn or forest. They are friendly, trustful little 

 creatures that often come close about the build- 

 ings in search of food, for they arrive at a time 



