546 BULLETIN 2 03, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Although the yellowthroat's nest is commonly located on or within 

 a few inches of the ground there are numerous instances in which the 

 nest is secured to tall weed stalks or shrubs well above the ground. 

 I. D. Campbell (1917) describes a nest of the Maryland yellowthroat 

 that he found at Bernardsville, N. J., which was located in an 

 alder, 3 feet above the ground. R. B. Simpson (1920) found a nest 

 in the top of a cluster of laurels that was growing among a growth of 

 hemlock trees. Mr, Simpson states that this nest was more like that of 

 a mourning warbler than of a Maryland yellowthroat. William 

 Brewster (1906) writes: "I have twice found it nesting in ground 

 junipers in perfectly dry upland pastures near Arlington Heights" 

 [Massachusetts] . Others have found nests in a diversity of situations 

 indicating a great deal of individual variation as far as the selection 

 of the nesting site is concerned. 



One most unusual situation for a nest is described by A. W. Brock- 

 way (1899) of Old Lyme, Conn., as follows : 



The locality chosen was near a back entrance to a house situated on the 

 main street of town. A pair of shoes, which were the property of my friend, 

 were placed outside of the door on the under pinning which projected out from 

 the side of the house about two feet. One day he had occasion to wear them 

 and went out and brought them into the house ; * * * he discovered some- 

 thing in one of them, and upon examination found it to be a nest. The other 

 shoe contained a few dry grasses and other fine material but for some reason 

 the bird gave up the idea of building in that, and took up housekeeping in shoe 

 No. 2. My friend immediately put the shoes back, thinking that she would 

 return, and upon glancing into the shoe the next day was surprised to see that 

 it contained an egg. 



The yellowthroat continued laying until she had deposited five eggs. 



P. G. Howes (1919) found a nest of the Maryland yellowthroat 

 near his house in Stamford, Conn., which was effectively guarded by 

 a nest of large hornets. According to Mr. Howes, the birds did not 

 bother the wasps and the wasps respected the birds; a case of 

 symbiosis. 



The nests of the yellowthroat are not always isolated from others of 

 their kind. For example Isaac E. Hess (1910) found 17 nests in a 

 half -acre swamp in central Illinois. This small swamp was in an 

 extensively cultivated agricultural area, a region where suitable nest- 

 ing sites are few in number. This unusual concentration of nesting 

 birds was probably due to necessity rather than to choice. 



The nest is a rather large, bulky structure composed of dead grass, 

 weed stems, dead leaves, grape vine bark, dead ferns, etc. all loosely 

 put together. The lining consists of fine grasses, tendrils, delicate 

 fibers of bark, and often a quantity of hair. 



The external parts of a nest, located in a meadow, was made up 

 of wide blades of fresh grass lined with moss. Nests in cattail 



