6 BULLETIN 203, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



females arrive there is much agitation, and often a long-continued 

 intermittent pursuit, with much song and fluttering of black and white 

 plumage, and much interference from rival males before the happy 

 pair are united and begin nesting." 



Nesting. — The black-and-white warbler usually builds its nest on 

 the ground, tucking it away against a shrub or tree, or even under the 

 shelter of an overhanging stone or bank. The nest is generally con- 

 cealed among an accumulation of dead leaves which, arching over it, 

 hides it from above. It is made, according to A. C. Bent (MS.), "of 

 dry leaves, coarse grass, strips of inner bark, pine needles and rootlets, 

 and is lined with finer grasses and rootlets and horsehair." I have 

 seen a nest made chiefly of pine needles on a base of dry leaves. 



Henry Mousley (1916), writing of Hatley, Quebec, mentions moss 

 as a component part of the nest, and says of three nests that they 

 were all "heavily lined with long black and white horse hairs," a pe- 

 culiarity of coloration mentioned in one of Mr. Bent's nests. Thomas 

 D. Burleigh (1927b) speaks of a nest in Pennsylvania "built of dead 

 leaves and rhododendron berry stems, lined with fine black rootlets and 

 a few white hairs." H. H. Brimley (1941) describes an exceptional 

 nest. He says : "There was no particular departure from normal in 

 its construction except for the fact that it was lined with a mixture 

 of fine rootlets and very fine copper wire, such as is used in telephone 

 cables. Fragments of such cable, discarded by repair men, were found 

 nearby where a telephone line ran through the woods." 



Cordelia J. Stan wood (1910c) speaks of a nest "built in a depres- 

 sion full of leaves, behind a flat rock. * * * The cavity was 

 shaped on a slant, the upper wall forming a partial roof. * * * 

 It looked not unlike a small-sized nest of an Oven-bird. On the in- 

 side, the length was 2i/^ inches, width li/^ inches, depth 2 inches. On 

 the outside, length 3i/^ inches, width 2i^ inches, depth 21/2 inches. 

 Thiclmess of wall at the top of nest, 1 inch ; at the bottom, l^ inch." 

 Henry Mousley (1916) gives the average dimensions of three nests as 

 "outside diameter 3%, inside 1% inches; outside depth 2i/4, inside 

 1^ inches." 



F. A. E. Starr (MS.) writes to A. C. Bent from Toronto, Ontario, 

 that all the nests he has found have been in broken-off stumps in low 

 woods. "The cavity in the top of the stump," he says, "is filled with 

 old leaves, and the nest proper is made chiefly of strips of bark with 

 grass and fiber." Guy H. Briggs (1900) reports a nest "in a decayed 

 hemlock stump, fifteen inches from the ground." In such cases, of 

 course, while the nest is well above the ground level, it rests on 

 a firm foundation. 



Audubon (1841) says: "In Louisiana, its nest is usually placed in 

 some small hole in a tree," but he quotes a letter to him from Dr. 



