314 BULLETIN 203, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



sections of this characteristic growth while feeding. Highly restless 

 and exceedingly active in movements, it is constantly on the go and, 

 as a consequence, is rather difficult to see and study satisfactorily, the 

 oft-repeated song being the best indication of its whereabouts. As 

 might be supposed, the female is even more elusive, and flits about like 

 some swamp wraith, silent and mysterious. The failure of as keen an 

 observer as Wayne to locate the nests of building females gives an idea 

 of its secretiveness. 



In these respects it differs materially from virens, at least in my 

 experience with that race, which is frequency found at rather low 

 elevations. Doubtless the type of growth is responsible, for virens 

 is a spruce-balsam-hemlock dweller, and these evergreens are dense 

 trees with branches often beginning only a few feet from the ground, 

 so that it can be seen and watched rather easily. 



While several authors have referred to virens as a tame bird, the 

 same cannot be said for waynei. In years of experience with the lat- 

 ter, I have always found it shy and retiring. Singing freely enough 

 if unaware of observation, it often ceases when it detects an intruder, 

 and since the song is one of the surest means of locating it, great care 

 has to be taken in moving about, particularly near the nest. 



The nest is impossible to find without watching the female, for it 

 is more often than not completely invisible from the ground. D. v. 

 waynei is found in the same habitat with yellow-throated and parula 

 warblers, but, unlike them, never utilizes the hanging clumps of 

 Spanish moss {Tillandsia) in which they invariably nest. I have 

 climbed a tall cypress and collected a nest and eggs of D. d. dominica 

 while waynei was singing in the near vicinity. The preference of 

 waynei for heavy, old-growth swamp forests is so marked that if this 

 timber is cut out, the bird disappears from the area completely, even 

 though other growth is left standing. In the South Carolina Low 

 Country, this characteristic is shared by both Bachman's and Swain- 

 son's warblers, both of which nest in heavy-swamps. 



Voice. — Though it was the cuckoo which Bryant characterized as "a 

 wandering voice," he might well have written the words with respect 

 to this tiny warbler for the bird is heard far more readily than it is 

 seen. As a songster it is all but indefatigable. Perhaps this is because 

 the depths of the cypress swamps and the old "backwaters" are cooler 

 than the surrounding highlands, but no matter how warm the day, 

 or close the atmosphere, the constantly reiterated, seven-note song 

 resounds through the air most of the day. The ornithologists I have 

 guided to the haunts of waynei all agree that the song is very close to 

 that of virens. Perhaps it is a shade more deliberate and studied, as 

 might be expected of a southerner ! However, to all intents and pur- 



