EASTERN YELLOW WARBLER 167 



{Impatiens capensis) , but after a brisk wind and a sharp shower both 

 nest and weed were completely wrecked. He shows a photograph of a 

 nest built almost entirely of sheep wool, and speaks also of the use 

 of fine strips of inner tree bark, which probably occur in many 

 nests, of quantities of fine, white, silky pappus from various plants, 

 and of a few feathers. Du Bois mentions in his notes a nest in which 

 five soft, white chicken feathers were woven into the lining, the largest 

 one when stretched out measuring 3% inches; there were also two 

 or three feathers in the body of the nest. In my collection is a beauti- 

 fully camouflaged nest that was built in the upright crotch of a small 

 poplar and seems to be made very largely of white cotton mixed 

 with fine, light-colored fibers. It is lined with cotton, and with a few 

 green poplar leaves fastened to the exterior, the whole being firmly 

 bound with some of the finest fibers and with spider silk, the light- 

 colored material matches the bark of the tree so closely that it might 

 easily be overlooked. 



T, E. McMullen has sent me his data for over 40 nests of the eastern 

 yellow warbler found in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The lowest 

 nest was only 1 foot from the ground in a small bush, and the highest 

 was 30 feet up in an elm. In addition to the shrubs and trees men- 

 tioned above he lists arrowroot, blackberry briers, elder, holly, Osage- 

 orange and buttonbushes, birch, wild cherry and oak saplings, and a 

 pear tree. 



The well-known habit of building nests one or more stories over 

 cowbirds' eggs will be discussed under the enemies of the yellow 

 warbler. 



Eggs. — Four or five eggs made up the usual set for the eastern 

 yellow warbler; sometimes as many as six are found, or as few as 

 three. In shape, they vary from ovate to short ovate, or rarely show 

 a tendency to elongate ovate. They are only slightly glossy. These 

 handsome eggs show a great variation, both in ground color and in 

 markings. The most common ground colors are grayish white or 

 greenish white but some eggs have a bluish white or even a soft, pale 

 green ground color. The spots and blotches show an even greater 

 variety of colors. Shades of "fuscous," "olive-brown," "citrine drab," 

 "buffy brown," "buffy olive," "light brownish olive," "raw umber," 

 "metal bronze," or "tawny olive" are intermingled with undertones 

 of "deep gull gi^ay," "neutral gray," "purplish gray," "pale purplish 

 gray," "mouse gray," or "buffy brown." The markings tend to form 

 a wreath around the large end where, on the heavily-marked types, 

 the blotches overlap the undertones and an almost endless number of 

 shades are formed. Sometimes a few spots or scrawls of dark "mummy 

 brown" or "olivaceous black" stand out in sharp contrast to the other 

 markings. Although the eggs are usually well marked, sometimes 



