PINE WARBLER. 24I 



but little compass or variety ; sometimes it approaches the sim- 

 plest trill of the Canary, but it is commonly a reverberating, 

 gently rising, or murmuring sound, like er V 'r V V V 'rah ; or, 

 in the spring, 'twe 'twe 'tw 'tw 'tw 'tw 'tw, and sometimes like 

 'tsh 'tsh 'tsh 'tw 'tw 'tw 'tw 'tw ; when harkened to some time, 

 there is a variation in the cadence, which, though rather feeble 

 at a distance, is not unpleasant, as the little minstrel tunes his 

 pipe during the heat of the summer day, while he flits gently 

 and innocently fearless through the shady boughs of the pine or 

 cedar in perpetual quest of his untiring prey. This song is 

 commonly heard at a considerable distance from his mate and 

 nest, from whom he often widely strays, according to the suc- 

 cess of his precarious pursuit. As the sound of the warble 

 varies from slender to high or low, it is often difficult to dis- 

 cover the retreat of the little busy musician, which appears far 

 or near with the modulation of his almost ventriloquous note. 

 The female hkewise 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 vicin- 

 ity, 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 wir}^ old 

 stems of the slender knot-weed {^Polygonum te?we), circularly 

 interlaced, and connected externally with rough Unty fibres of 

 some species of Asclepias, and blended with caterpillar's webs. 

 The lining was made of a few hog's 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 

 pose 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 entirely different from that given by Wilson on the 

 authority of Mr. Abbot. The nest there mentioned is nothing 

 more than the usual pendulous fabric of the Red-eyed Warbling 

 Flycatcher. The eggs in ours were 4, and, advanced towards 

 VOL. I. — 16 



