VIRGINIA'S WARBLER 121 



few, compared with the numbers seen in April and the early part of May, re- 

 mained through the summer to breed. The earliest arrival noted was on April 

 10th and soon after they were quite abundant, mostly in the oak region below 

 5000 feet, remaining so throughout April and up to the first yveek in May, at 

 which time the migrating birds had about all passed on. All that were seen 

 after that I took to be breeding birds, for they gradually moved to a higher 

 altitude, (6000 to SOOO feet) and were nearly all in pairs. About the middle of 

 April, 1902, I found a few virginiae, together with other migrating warblers, 

 in the willows along the San Pedro River, some fifteen miles from the mountains. 



Nesting. — Ridgway was evidently the first to record the nest of 

 Virginia's warbler, finding it near Salt Lake City on June 9, 1869. 

 "The nest was embedded in the deposits of dead or decaying leaves, on 

 ground covered by dense oak-brush. Its rim was just even with the 

 surface. It was built on the side of a narrow ravine at the bottom of 

 which was a small stream. The nest itself is two inches in depth by 

 three and a half in diameter. It consists of a loose but intricate inter- 

 weaving of fine strips of the inner bark of the mountain mahogany, 

 fine stems of grasses, roots, and mosses, and is lined with the same 

 with the addition of the fur and hair of the smaller animals" (Baird, 

 Brewer, and Ridgway, 1874). 



Shortly afterwards, a nest was found on June 1, 1873, in Colorado, 

 by C. E. Aiken. It was reported by Aiken and Warren (1914) as 

 "the first nest of this species known to science. * * * This was 

 sunk in the ground in a tuft of bunch grass growing in a clump of oak 

 brush, with the dead grass hanging over and completely concealing 

 the nest, which was reached through a small round hole like a mouse 

 hole through the protecting grass." 



Dr. Linsdale (1938) reports a nest found in Nevada, at an elevation 

 of 7,700 feet, that "was at the lower edge of a clump of grass 20 inches 

 tall and 2 feet across. The surrounding hillside was of small rocks 

 lying at a maximum angle of rest. A few similar grass clumps were 

 scattered near, about 10 feet apart. The surrounding trees were 

 mountain mahogany and chokecherry. The nest was composed en- 

 tirely of grass and was in a depression in the loose soil. It was well 

 concealed by dead grass at the base of the tuft." 



In the Huachuca Mountains, Ariz., Mr. Swarth (1904) found a nest 

 that "was built on a steep sidehill about ten feet from a much traveled 

 trail, and was very well concealed ; being under a thick bunch of over- 

 hanging grass, and sunk into the ground besides, so as to be entirely 

 hid from view. This was at an elevation of about 8,000 feet, which 

 seems to be about the upward limit for this species in this region." 



We found Virginia's warbler fairly common there in the middle 

 reaches of the canyons, around 7,000 feet, and found a nest being 

 built at the base of a bush of mountain misery ; Mr. Willard collected 

 it with a set of three eggs on June 4, 1922 ; it was made of leaves and 

 strips of bark and was lined with horsehair. 



