TENNESSEE WARBLER 79 



The Fort Smith nests, referred to by Professor Cooke, were re- 

 corded by Edward A. Preble (1908) as follows: 



Nests containing eggs were found by Alfred E. Preble on June 20 and 27, the 

 eggs, five in number, being fresh in each instance. The first nest was embedded 

 in the moss at the foot of a clump of dead willows near the edge of a dense 

 spruce forest. It was rather slightly built of dead grass with a lining of the 

 same material, and was protected from above by the overhanging bases of the 

 willows, and by the strips of bark which had fallen from them, so that the 

 nest could be seen only from the side. The second nest was more bulky, was 

 composed outwardly of shreds of bark, coarse grass, and Egiiisetum stems, and 

 was lined with fine grass. It was placed on the ground beneath a small fallen 

 tree, in a clearing which had been swept by fire a year or two previously. 



W. J. Brown, of Westmount, Quebec, tells me that he and L. M. 

 Terrill in an hour found 16 nests of this warbler in a corner of 

 a sphagnum bog, and, "there must have been about 100 pairs nesting 

 in this ideal spot at the time." 



Eggs. — The Tennessee warbler lays large sets of eggs, from four 

 to seven, with sets of six common. Philipp and Bowdish (1919) state, 

 "it appears that more full layings of six eggs are to be found than of 

 five." 



The eggs are ovate to short ovate and have only a slight luster. 

 The ground color is white or creamy white, and the markings, in the 

 form of speckles and small spots, are in shades of "chestnut" and 

 "auburn," sometimes intermingled with "light vinaceous-drab." On 

 some the markings are well scattered over the entire surface while 

 on others they are concentrated at the large end, often forming a loose 

 wreath. Only occasionally do the spots assume the proportions of 

 blotches. The measurements of 50 eggs average 16.1 by 12.4 milli- 

 meters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 17.8 by 12.7, 

 16.8 by 13.1, 14.8 by 12.3, and 15.8 by 11.4 millimeters (Harris). 



Young. — Nothing seems to have been recorded on the period of 

 incubation, which is performed by the female alone. Nor do we 

 know anything about the care of the young or their development. 



Plumages. — Dr. Dwight (1900) says that the young Tennessee 

 warbler in ju venal plumage, in which the sexes are alike, is similar 

 to the young Nashville warbler in similar plumage but lacks the 

 brownish cast and has a faint transocular stripe. He describes it as 

 "above dull grayish olive-green, the rump brighter. Wings and 

 tail clove-brown, the primaries whitish edged, the secondaries, ter- 

 tiaries and wing coverts greenish edged with two yellowish white 

 wing bands. Below grayish buflf rapidly fading when older to a 

 greenish gray; abdomen and crissum pale straw-yellow. Trace of 

 ducky transocular streak." 



The incomplete post ju venal molt, involving the contour plumage 

 and the wing coverts, but not the rest of the wings or the tail, begins 

 about the middle of July. This produces the first winter plumage. 



