KIRTLAND'S WARBLER 423 



more slowly — returns). The mannerism is more pronounced when 

 the warblers are disturbed or excited, but it is quite conspicuous at 

 all times. 



Although they nest in a very dry habitat, often miles from any 

 surface water, they nevertheless take water-baths. One June 21, 1944, 

 an hour after sunrise, I watched a male about 6 feet up in a small oak 

 among the pines take repeated baths by splashing among the heavily 

 dew-laden leaves — singing in the intervals between baths. (The tem- 

 perature was 47° F.) He finally flew over to a jack-pine and began to 

 shake himself and preen his feathers — still singing at regular 

 intervals. 



On June 15, 1943, about 3 hours after sunrise, I watched a female 

 sun bathe. Perching about 5 feet above the ground on the southeast 

 side of a small jack-pine, she tilted her body sidewise, fluflfed her 

 feathers, and thus basked in the sun for a minute or two. 



Voice. — Song is an important factor in this warbler's life and also 

 in our efforts to study the species. The males sing so loudly and so 

 persistently that they are easily found even in the thick cover they 

 usually frequent. Fortunately, Axtell (1938) has published a good 

 account of the song and of the warbler's habits while singing. He 

 writes : 



Even at * * * the nest-building season, there were frequent periods 

 ♦ * ♦ when no sound was heard for several minutes from « ♦ ♦ the six 

 or more males. If any one individual was observed constantly for some time, 

 it was noted that there were frequent intervals of silence • * * even in the 

 early morning. * * * After a i)eriod of silence lasting from half a minute 

 to an hour or more, a bird might sing two or three repetitions of its song or 

 might remain vocal for more than half an hour. During the singing period 

 the song, itself less than two seconds in length, was commonly repeated with 

 considerable regularity at intervals of from eight to twelve seconds. But here, 

 also, some irregularities might frequently be injected. « * * 



At this season, each male did a great deal of his singing while patrolling his 

 territory, sometimes alone, at other times accompanied by his mate. Her pres- 

 ence or absence on these tours did not seem to determine whether or not he sang. 

 I observed one singing from a stick within a foot of the ground and another 

 nearly fifty feet up in the tip-top of one of the tallest trees in his territory. 

 The greater part of the singing was done from the branches of the dense growth 

 of ten-foot-high jackpines, perhaps several songs from one branch and only one 

 song from the next, while the bird fed between. One individual interspersed 

 preening with rather evenly timed singing while perched nonchalantly almost 

 within arm's reach of me. Any dead tree, rising above the level of the pine- 

 tops, seemed often to influence a bird to perch and sing from one of its higher 

 branches, sometimes for several minutes, whether the tree were near his nest or 

 in the farther reaches of his territory. On a later trip through the same part of 

 his domain, the bird might choose to do his singing from a different dead tree 

 nearby, or might ignore such high perches in that vicinity until a later round. 



It is remarkable how persistently the males will sing in spite of all 

 sorts of unfavorable factors. On a clear day at the height of the 



