BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER 343 



injurious to the trees. F. H. King (1883) , writing of its food in Wis- 

 consin, says : "Of nine specimens examined, four had eaten nine small 

 beetles; five, nineteen caterpillars; one, ants; and one, small winged 

 insect. In the stomachs of three examined collectively, were found 

 four caterpillars, four ants, one dipterous insect .09 of an inch long, 

 one medium sized heteropterous insect, four large crane-flies, and one 

 ichneumon-fly (?). Another bird had in its stomach one heterop- 

 terous insect {Tingis), nine small caterpillars, two leaf-beetles, and 

 two large crane-flies." 



Ora W. Knight (1908) writes : "In general I have found large quan- 

 tities of the wing cases and harder body portions of beetles in the 

 stomachs of such Blackburnian "Warblers as I have dissected, also un- 

 identifiable grubs, worms, larvae of various lepidopterous insects and 

 similar material. As a rule they feed by passing from limb to limb 

 and examining the foliage and limbs of trees, more seldom catching 

 anything in the air." 



R. W. Sheppard (1939), of Niagara Falls, Ontario, observed a male 

 Blackburnian warbler in his garden for several days, November 5 

 to 11, 1938, that appeared to be traveling with two chickadees, among 

 some willow trees. "An examination of the row of low willow trees 

 which appeared to be so attractive to this particular warbler, re- 

 vealed the presence of numbers of active aphids and innumerable 

 newly laid aphis eggs, and it is probable that these insects and their 

 eggs provided the major incentive for the repeated and prolonged 

 visits of this very late migrant." 



Henry D. Minot (1877) observed "a i)air feeding upon ivy berries" 

 on April 21, when insects were not yet common in Massachusetts. 



Behavior. — William Brewster (1938) describes what he thought was 

 the unique behavior of a female Blackburnian warbler at its nest, al- 

 though a similar habit has been observed in other wood warblers. 

 Even though the eggs "were perfectly fresh the female sat so closely 

 that thumping and shaking the tree (a slender one) failed to start 

 her, and when Watrous climbed it he nearly touched her before she 

 slipped off. She then dropped like a stone to the ground over which 

 she crawled and tumbled and fluttered with widespread tail and quiv- 

 ering wings much like a Water Thrush or Oven Bird and evidently 

 with the hope of leading us away from the nest." 



The Blackburnian is preeminently a forest warbler and a treetop 

 bird. On migrations it frequents the tops of the trees in the deciduous 

 forests, often in company with other wood warblers ; and on its breed- 

 ing grounds in the coniferous forests the male loves to perch on the 

 topmost tip of some tall spruce and sing for long periods, his fiery 

 breast gleaming in the sunlight. As his mate is probably sitting on 

 her nest not far away, his serenity may be disturbed by the appearance 



