374 BULLETESr 203, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Behavior. — The chestnut-sided warbler is one of the prettiest of 

 the wood warblers, some regarding it as quite the prettiest. It is 

 certainly one of the most attractive, as it flits about in the roadside 

 shrubbery near us, with its tail elevated, its wings drooping, and its 

 pure white breast swelling as if with pride in its beauty. It is a 

 sprightly, active little bird and far from timid, allowing a near ap- 

 proach as it busily gleans among the foliage or darts out to seize some 

 flying insect. On its nest, which is usually well screened among the 

 leaves, it will sit quietly, confident of its concealing coloration, until 

 we can almost touch it ; then suddenly it is gone, out of sight under 

 the bushes; but it soon appears again, nervously flitting about in the 

 taller bushes or trees to scold at our intrusion. 



The following note on the behavior of the parent birds at the nest 

 is contributed by Dr. Alexander F. Skutch: "Following the parents 

 as they carried food, I found a nest of the chestnut-sided warbler 

 situated 3 feet above the ground in the midst of a clump of Cornus 

 racemosa on a scrubby hillside near Ithaca, N. Y. It contained two 

 half-grown cowbird nestlings, which squealed a little as I took them 

 in hand, and drove the poor, misguided foster-parents to frenzied 

 efforts to entice me from the nest. The male warbler fluttered from 

 twig to twig in front of me, vibrating his wings and spreading his 

 tail; while his mate descended to the ground beneath the dogwood 

 clump, where she crouched on the dead leaves with vibrating wings 

 and spread tail, moving forward slowly and lamely, after the usual 

 manner of distressed parents. I squatted down in the midst of the 

 bushes the better to see her; and the male, becoming uncommonly 

 bold and loudly chirping his protests, displayed so close before me 

 that every most delicate marking of his plumage was visible: The 

 golden crown, the white sides of the head, the rich chestnut bands 

 along the flanks and sides, and every streak of black and white and 

 gray on the wings and back and tail. I might have reached forward 

 and touched him, had he only remained still. On the following day, 

 the performance was repeated for my benefit." 



Voice. — ^Aretas A. Saunders contributes the following full account 

 of the songs of this warbler : "The chestnut-sided warbler is one that 

 has two different songs, which show seasonal differences, so that they 

 may be referred to as territory and nesting songs. The territory song 

 is the first to be heard, during migration and upon the first arrival on 

 the nesting grounds, while the nesting song is not commonly heard 

 until nesting is established. During the nesting period both songs are 

 to be heard. In common with other species that have two songs, the 

 territory song is fairly definite in form but the nesting song is ex- 

 ceedingly variable. Both have the same quality; they are quite loud, 

 of musical quality, but rather chatterlike and not especially sweet, 



