110 BULLETIN 203, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



fact they eat almost anything which they can glean in the insect line 

 from the shrubbery and ground." 



Forbush (1929) says: "As the bird ranges from the ground to the 

 tree-tops it takes most of the insects that any warbler will eat, among 

 them flies, young grasshoppers and locusts, leaf-hoppers and many 

 plant-lice, caterpillars both hairless and hairy, among them the gipsy, 

 brown-tail and tent caterpillar, most of which are taken when young 

 and small ; also small wood-boring beetles are eaten, and other small 

 insects of many species. The bird appears to be almost wholly 

 insectivorous." 



Behavior. — The eastern Nashville warbler is an active, sprightly, 

 restless member of an active family, ranging in its foraging mainly 

 in the lower story of the open woodlands and more often in the low 

 trees and shrubbery around the borders of the forest. Wlien thus 

 engaged it is not particularly shy and often seems quite unconscious 

 of the presence of an observer. On migrations it seems to be sociably 

 inclined and may be seen associated with the mixed flocks of warblers 

 that are drifting through the tree tops. At these seasons it often 

 visits our orchards and the shrubbery in our gardens, giving us a 

 glimpse of green and gold among the blossoms and opening leaves. 



J. W. Preston (1891) describes an interesting manner of foraging: 



"One will fly to the foot of a fir tree or other conifer and begin an 

 upward search, hopping energetically from branch to branch until the 

 very highest point is reached, when the bird drops lightly down to the 

 foot of another tree, much as does the Brown Creeper. When an 

 insect is discovered the bird secures it by a sudden bound, and, should 

 the object be not easily dislodged, Helminthophila sustains himself on 

 flapping wings until his purpose is accomplished, which often requires 

 several moments." 



Voice. — Gerald Thayer gave Dr. Chapman (1907) a very good de- 

 scription of the songs and calls as follows : 



The Nashville has at least two main perch-songs, and a flight-song, all subject 

 to a good deal of variation. It belongs decidedly among the full-voiced War- 

 blers. * * * Its commoner perch-song consists of a string of six or eight or 

 more, lively, rapid notes, suddenly congested into a pleasant, rolling twitter, 

 lower in key than the first part of the song, and about half as long. In the other 

 perch-song, the notes of what correspond to the rolling twitter are separate and 

 richer, and the second part of the song is longer and more noticeable than the 

 first, whose notes are few and slurred, while the whole is more languidly 

 delivered. 



The differences are hard to describe intelligibly ; but In reality they are pro- 

 nounced and constant. The flight-song, a fairly common performance in late 

 summer, is sung from the height of five to forty feet above the (usually low) 

 tree-tops. It Is like the commoner perch-songs, but more hurried, and slightly 

 elaborated, often with a few chippings added, at both ends. Among the Nash- 



