EASTERN YELLOW WARBLER 163 



remaining for two or three seconds as nearly stationary in the air as 

 a hummingbird. Twelve yards beyond the spruce I found a nearly 

 completed nest in tall lilacs ; but this nest was not finally occupied." 

 Apparently, a second pair of warblers had tried to build a nest too near 

 the territory of the first pair and had been driven out of the territory. 

 Courtship. — Mr. Smith (1943) says on this subejct: 



Courtship begins soon after arrival of the species. Within a period of from 

 four to six days greatly increased singing is noted which marks its inception. 

 Persistent and lively pursuit of the female by the male was observed, taking 

 place within a restricted area (once within a radius of thirty feet). From one 

 to four days elapsed before courtship was completed. Sexual union may not 

 take place until nest building begins as the following observations in 1938 tend 

 to show. Pursuit of the female began on May 23, continued on the 24th but 

 frequent attempts at intercourse on the part of the male were unsuccessful. On 

 the 26th copulation was seen to take place and on that date the nest was com- 

 pleted. * * * A period of several days intervened between nest completion 

 and egg laying. During two seasons of rather intensive observation, this was 

 two days. 



Nesting. — ^Although we have come to regard the yellow warbler as 

 a sociable and friendly little bird that seeks our company and builds 

 its nest in the shrubbery about our homes, often close to our houses 

 or in the bushes under our windows, such were not the original nesting 

 sites and even now are far from being the commonest situations chosen, 

 although they may seem the most evident. 



The favorite nesting sites in southern New England are along small 

 streams and brooks, around the borders of swamps and ponds and 

 lakes, or in the more open brushy swamps (where the land is moist 

 but not too wet) among willows, alders, elderberry and blueberry 

 bushes, and other moisture-loving shrubs and small trees. They also 

 nest in drier situations, in shrubbery about open spaces, along brush- 

 grown fences and hedgerows and roadside thickets, or in cut-over 

 lands grown up to sprouts and to thickets of wild raspberry, blue- 

 berry, and other bushes. 



In such situations the nest is built in an upright fork or crotch of 

 a bush or sapling, seldom over 6 or 8 feet from the ground or less than 

 3. Nests are sometimes built at higher levels in apple trees in or- 

 chards or in small trees about houses but rarely as high as 30 or 40 

 feet. Near human habitations, clumps of lilac bushes, often close to 

 windows or doors, are decided favorites, while various kinds of orna- 

 mental shrubs about our gardens or grounds also provide suitable 

 nesting sites. 



Mr. Du Bois has sent me the data for 30 nests of the eastern yellow 

 warbler found in Minnesota, Illinois, and New York. Among these, 

 4 were in willows, 3 each in lilacs and alders, 2 each in elms and box- 

 elder saplings, and 1 each in a grapevine, an ash sapling, a spirea 



