40 BULLETIN 2 03, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



ceeds northward through the Mississippi Valley and through the 

 Atlantic Coast States east of the Alleghenies, the warblers reaching 

 the more northern breeding grounds by the middle of May, where 

 nesting activities begin as soon as mates have been selected. 



Nesting. — Evidently Thomas H. Jackson, of West Chester, Pa., was 

 the hrst to report the discovery of the nest of the worm-eating warbler ; 

 he published an account of it in the American Naturalist for December 

 1869, from which Baird, Brewer, and Kidgway (1874) quote as fol- 

 lows : "On the 6th of June, 1869, I found a nest of this species con- 

 taining five eggs. It was placed in a hollow on the ground, much 

 like the nests of the Oven-Bird {Seiuims mn'ocapillus), and was well 

 hidden from sight by the dry leaves that lay thickly around. The 

 nest was composed externally of dead leaves, mostly those of the 

 beech, while the interior was prettily lined with the fine, thread-like 

 stalks of the hair-moss {Polytnchium) . * * * So close did the 

 female sit that I captured her without difficulty by placing my hat 

 over the nest." 



This nest was quite characteristic of the species. Mr. Burns writes 

 to me : "The nest, well hidden under a drift of dead forest leaves, never 

 varied in composition in over a hundred examples examined by me, in 

 partly skeletonized leaves and the characteristic reddish-brown lining 

 of the flower stem of the hair moss." Every one of 50 nests found 

 by Mr. Jackson was lined with these flower stems, and out of 34 

 nests reported by Dr. Samuel S. Dickey (1934) only one failed to 

 contain this material, being lined with "black and gray horsehair." 

 Samuel B. Ladd (1887) says that "sometimes fine grass and horse-hair 

 are used as part of the lining." Dr. Chapman (1907) writes: "Nests 

 taken by J. N. Clark at Saybrook, Connecticut (C. W. C.) are com- 

 posed of decayed leaves and lined with stems of maple seeds." And 

 there are probably a few other exceptions to the rule. 



Most observers agree that the worm-eating warbler prefers to nest 

 on hillsides, either sloping or steep, but a number of nests have been 

 foimd on the sides of deep, shady ravines, or on steep banks. Mr. 

 Ladd (1887), however, states: "I have observed that these birds are 

 not confined necessarily to hill-sides, as was heretofore supposed, as 

 I have taken three sets on level ground and in rather open places, 

 with little shade. The experience of Mr. Thomas H. Jackson of this 

 place, who has taken ten nests this year, corroborates this fact." 



The nests are generally well concealed under a canopy of dead 

 leaves, drifted by the wind and lodged against a maple, beech, dog- 

 wood, or ash sapling, or under hydrangea, laurel, or rhododendron 

 bushes, or under some bunch of weeds or other obstruction. They 

 are sometimes concealed under the roots of a tree or in a cavity in a 

 bank where they are protected somewhat by fallen leaves. 



