CANADA WARBLER 647 



feet. Prof. Maurice Brooks (1936) says that it "has found an ap- 

 parently satisfactory home in the deciduous second growth. This 

 species shares with the Magnolia the claim to being the most abundant 

 northern warbler in West Virginia. There is not a mountain area 

 where it may not be found." Elsewhere, he says (1940) : "A favorite 

 haunt is a ravine with dense hemlock overstory and an understory of 

 tangled rhododendron." 



In northwestern North Carolina, Thomas D. Burleigh (1941) found 

 it on Mount Mitchell, "a plentiful breeding bird in the cut-over area 

 to an altitude of approximately 6,300 feet, appearing early in May 

 and lingering until the first of September. Not known to nest in the 

 fir and spruce woods at the top of the mountain until the year 1934 

 when two pairs were found there May 23." He had previously (1925) 

 found it breeding in northeastern Georgia on the north slope of 

 Brasstown Bald above an elevation of 4,000 feet. He felt sure "that 

 at least ten pair must have nested there among the moss-covered 

 boulders and tangled rhododendron thickets." 



Spring. — From its winter haunts in South America the Canada 

 warbler migrates through the eastern United States in May, covering 

 a period of 3 or 4 weeks in passage. Prof. Cooke (1904) writes: 

 "The great bulk of the species passes along the Atlantic coast and 

 westward to and including the valley of the Ohio. In the interior 

 the bird is a rare migrant from eastern Texas, eastern Kansas, eastern 

 Nebraska, through the valley of the Red River of the North to Mani- 

 toba. Accidental occurrences are reported from central Texas, 

 southern New Mexico, and eastern Colorado." 



On the spring migration, we generally see the Canada warbler 

 in the lower stories of the swampy woods, or in the denser underbrush, 

 much such places as are frequented by Wilson's warblers. Referring 

 to Ohio, Milton B. Trautman (1940) says: "In spring the species 

 was found in the greatest numbers in the profuse shrub layer of the 

 larger upland and lowland remnant forests. This lovely warbler 

 had a decided preference for the spicebushes {Benzoin aestivale) of 

 the swamp forest, and it fed and sang its pleasing song among these 

 newly leaved flowering shrubs." 



Nesting. — The Canada warbler builds its nest on or near the ground, 

 often in a mossy hummock, on a moss-covered log or stump, or in a 

 cavity in a bank or the upturned roots of a fallen tree. Robie W. 

 Tufts' notes mention a Nova Scotia nest that was "built among the 

 roots of an upturned tree over a pool of water, in thick, swampy 

 land in coniferous woods." F. H. Kennard records in his notes two 

 nests, found near Lancaster, N. H., that were placed on the sides 

 of moss-covered stumps. In Owen Durfee's journal I find the descrip- 

 tions of five nests of this warbler, found in the same locality; these 



