LAND BIRDS. 637 



in spring, Mr. Wood's earliest record in twenty-five years at Ann Arbor 

 being May 3, 1883, and the average May 15, while in three years the arrivals 

 were May 19, May 20 and May 27. Dr. Gibbs gives the first record for 

 Kalamazoo county, a specimen taken by Mr. Syke, May 21, 1882, but his 

 first records for Howard City, Montcalm county, are May 13, 1880, May 

 11, 1882 and May 20, 1883. He found them common if not abundant in 

 Montcalm and Wexford counties. Specimens were killed on Michigan 

 lighthouses as follows: Detroit River Light, May 15, 1886; Pt. Aux 

 Barques Light, Lake Huron, May 12 and 13, 1883; Spectacle Reef Light, 

 Lake Huron, May 31, 1892, May 22, 1893, August 23, 1887. 



The Mourning Warbler is a clecicledly rare bird east of the Alleghanies 

 but seems to be fairly abundant as a nesting bird in parts of northern 

 Michigan if not throughout. It is by no means confined to wet ground, 

 but frequents thickets and brushy clearings. In such situations it may 

 be found among the bushes, or singing from the top of a low tree, reminding 

 one both in habits and song of the Maryland Yellowthroat, but being 

 much more conspicuous. Dr. W. H. Dunham states that in Kalkaska 

 county he has found it a common breeder. Under date of August 1, 

 1906, he writes "I have seen from one to four pairs in every old chopping 

 I have visited all summer up to date. They were almost as common here 

 this summer as in Marquette county, where I spent from June 25 to July 

 21 this year." It was found frequently in the Porcupine Mountains, 

 Ontonagon county, by the University of Michigan expedition in 1904, 

 and was evidently nesting, females accompanied by young barely able 

 to fly being seen several times. Peet also records it at Isle Royale, Lake 

 Superior, in July 1905. The writer found it nesting in some numbers at 

 Munising, Alger county, July 6, 1903, and observed a female feeding young 

 at Grand Marais, in the same county, a few days later. Mr. E. A. Doolittle 

 states that in the summer of 1906 he found it a common breeder on Grand 

 Island, Lake Superior, and came across three nests (between June 19 

 and July 12) containing eggs. Dr. W. H. Dunham found a nest in Kalkaska 

 county June 7, 1902, "which was located at the edge of an old chopping, 

 on the ground, and was shaded by vines commonly known as wild buck- 

 wheat. There were four fresh eggs." 



Dr. Gibbs found the Mourning Warbler an abundant summer resident 

 in Montcalm county from 1880 to 1884, and speaks of it as perhaps the 

 most abundant species of the family in that county. Our southernmost 

 summer record for the state was obtained by E. R. Kalmbach, who found 

 two males in a swamp near Lansing, Ingham county, July 7, 1907. Both 

 were in full song and undoubtedly had nests in the vicinity. One specimen 

 was collected and its identification confirmed by the writer. 



According to Ridgway: "The eggs are not separable from those of 

 the Connecticut and Kentucky Warblers," that is, they are white or creamy 

 white, speckled and spotted with brown, reddish brown and lilac gray. 

 They average .71 by .54 inches. 



The song is variously described by different writers as suggesting that 

 of the Maryland Yellowthroat, the Kentucky Warbler, the Ovenbird 

 and the Water-thrush. Mr. Walter Faxon describing the song in western 

 Massachusetts says: "The song that I most often heard resembles the 

 syllables thur-ree, thur-ree, thur-ree. A refrain consisting of three notes, 

 with the accent upon the last, or of two notes with a strong accent on 

 the first, the voice falling on the second, was sometimes appended. At 

 other times the form of the song was quite different, consisting of but five 



