NORTHERN PARULA WARBLER 141 



M. G. Vaiden writes to me that he found a nest near Belzoni, IVIiss., 

 in a heavy oak swamp where there were dusters of Usnea on prac- 

 tically all of the trees. The nest was 16 feet above the ground and 12 

 feet out on a limb of an oak ; it was made like our northern nests and 

 lined with the "moss" and fine rootlets. Another described in his 

 notes was entirely different. It was in a section of Mississippi where 

 there was no Usnea growing within 60 miles. The nest was 6 feet 

 from the ground and 4 feet out in the crotch of a limb of a hackberry 

 tree. A pretty nest, it was nicely constructed of leaves and bark from 

 cypress trees, and was lined with small rootlets and very fine twigs. 



Eggs. — The usual set for the northern parula warbler consists of 

 4 or 5 eggs ; 3 sometimes constitute a full set, and as many as 6 or 7 

 have been found in a nest; there are 3 sets of 7 in the J. P. Norris 

 collection. The eggs are ovate or short ovate, have only a slight 

 gloss, and are white or creamy white, speckled and spotted with shades 

 of "russet,," "chestnut," "bay," and "auburn," with a few underlying 

 spots of "brownish drab." There is much variation; on some eggs 

 the "brownish drab" color is entirely lacking, while on others spots 

 of this color are the most prominent markings ; again, the eggs may 

 be almost immaculate, or may have just a few indistinct freckles of 

 "pale wood brown" at the large end. The measurements of 50 eggs 

 average 16.5 by 12.1 millimeters ; the eggs showing the four extremes 

 measure 18.3 by 12.7, 16.9 by 12.9, 14.8 by 11.9, and 16.3 by 11.2 milli- 

 meters (Harris). 



Toung. — ^The period of incubation does not seem to have been deter- 

 mined, nor do we know how long the young remain in the nest. Incu- 

 bation of the eggs and brooding of the young is performed mainly by 

 the female, but the male assists in both to some extent. I have seen a 

 male leave a nest in which there were eggs; and Mr. Mousley (1924) 

 saw a male brood the young for a period of 4 minutes in the absence 

 of the female, but he left as soon as she returned. Both parents feed 

 the young. Mr. Mousley's table shows that during a watching period 

 of 15 hours the male fed the young 45 times and the female fed them 

 only 21 times ; the average rate of feeding was once in 13.6 minutes ; 

 during this time the male brooded once and the female 34 times, a 

 total of 11 hours and 27 minutes. He "noticed that the food the male 

 brought consisted almost invariably of soft green larvae, whereas, 

 that of the female more often than not consisted of insects, and the 

 portions she brought were usually smaller in proportion than those of 

 her partner." 



Plwmages. — Dr. Dwight (1900) says that the natal down is "smoke- 

 gray." The sexes are alike in the juvenal plumage, which Kidgway 

 (1902) describes as "above plain slate-gray, slightly tinged with olive- 



