452 BULLETIN 2 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



W. J. Brown has sent to A. C. Bent descriptions and photographs 

 of nests found in the southern part of the Province of Quebec. Here 

 the birds breed in "large tracts of open sphagnum bogs," often among 

 the lichens which cover the ground, in situations such as the follow- 

 ing : "at the base of a seedling spruce ; sunk under a clump of cotton 

 grass ; embedded in a mass of bleached grass at the side of a mound, 

 concealed in lichens and low plants; 6 inches from the ground in 

 crotch of seedling spruce in center of large sphagnum bog among 

 a thin growth of spruce; 2 feet above the ground against the trunk 

 of a small spruce tree, at the edge of an open sphagnum bog.'' The 

 nests were made of dry grass and lined w^ith feathers. 



P. B. Philipp and B. S. Bowdish (1917) found the bird breeding 

 commonly in New Brunswick in situations similar to those mentioned 

 but "one small breeding colony w^ere nesting on high, dry ground, 

 in a grove of small pines." They describe a nest as "composed of 

 fine dead weed-stalks, strippings of dead weed bark and dead grasses, 

 lined with the finest of same material, and with a few feathers worked 

 into lining. The feathers in nest lining seem to be characteristic of 

 this bird." They give the dimensions of a nest as "diameter outside 

 3l^ inches and inside 2 inches with a depth of 2i/2 inches outside and 

 2 inches inside." They remark : "The sitting Yellow Palm Warbler 

 usually runs, mouse fashion, from the nest, while the intruder is still 

 some feet distant, and it is with greatest difficulty and the most acute 

 watching that this movement is detected soon enough to serve as a 

 clue to the immediate whereabouts of the nest. The bird remains 

 silent until well away from the nest, usually until the intruder has 

 been in the vicinity for a few minutes, when it commonly begins a 

 vigorous chipping, the sharp, strong note characteristic of the species." 



Ora Willis Knight (1904) discovered the yellow palm warbler 

 breeding near Bangor, Maine, in a bog similar to the bogs in the lo- 

 calities mentioned. He says it "consists of large open expanses thickly 

 carpeted with sphagnum mosses, and dotted with numerous small 

 trees and shrubs." Among the characteristic plants, he mentions 

 hackmatack, swamp spruce, Labrador tea, rhododendron, swamp 

 laurel, wild rosemary, birch, orchids, and many sedges. Knight 

 (1908) says, speaking of the same region : 



Nest building must begin early in May, as well grown young have been found 

 the first of June. I am satisfied that both parents share in the duties of incu- 

 bation and both take part in caring for the young. The nests can be easily 

 located by watching the parents carrying food to the young, but before the 

 eggs have hatched the birds are very shy of approaching the nest when observers 

 are about. The incubating bird will remain on its nest until almost stepped 

 upon before flying, and practically the only way of discovering nests is by flush- 

 ing birds therefrom, unless some reckless person is willing to visit the bog and 

 spend day after day during the nest building season, fighting the voracious mos- 

 quitoes and meanwhile watching to catch tbe birds in the act of carrying ma- 



