CERULEAN WARBLER. 247 



particularly abundant in Louisiana, and not uncommon in Ken- 

 tucky and Tennessee, and from thence inhabiting throughout 

 the country to the estuaries of the Mississippi. It frequents 

 low, damp woods and the desolate borders of the lagoons, 

 cane-brakes, and swamps near the banks of the great rivers. 

 It arrives in Kentucky about the middle of April, but enters 

 the southern extremity of the Union from Mexico by the same 

 time in March, and by the middle of September retires south 

 of the United States. The males are very pugnacious in the 

 pairing season of spring, and utter some loud notes, in threes, 

 resembling the sound of 'twcedie tweedle tweedle. The nest is 

 often attached to stems of stout weeds, or placed in a tuft of 

 grass. It is made of the dry bark of herbaceous plants, mixed 

 with downy substances, and lined with the cotton of the seed 

 of the wild poplar. The species is scarcely known to the east 

 of North Carolina. 



In the A. O. U. checklist the habitat of this species is given as 

 " Eastern United States, west to the Plains, and north to southern 

 New England and southern Michigan. In winter, West Indies 

 and Central America." It is most abundant along the Mississippi 

 valley, and has been seen but rarely east of the AUeghanies. 

 There is only one record of its occurrence in New England, — a pair 

 taken in 1876, at Suffield, Conn. Mr. John Neilson reports that a 

 pair were frequently seen by him near the city of Quebec during 

 the early part of July, 1879. 



Those who have heard the song pronounce it an attractive 

 melody, the tones being loud and clear and the theme pleasing. 

 Mr. \Vm. Brewster ranks it among the best of the Sylvicoline per- 

 formances. 



CERULEAN WARBLER. 



BLUE WARBLER. 

 DeNDROICA CyERULEA. 



Char. Male: above, bright azure blue, sides of head and back 

 streaked with black ; line of dusky blue through the eyes ; wings with 

 two white bars ; all tail-feathers but inner pair patched with white; be- 

 neath, white ; breast and sides streaked with dusky blue. Female : 

 similar but upper parts tinged with olive, and under parts tinged with 

 yellow. Length ^% to 5 inches. 



Nest. In open woodland, on horizontal bough 30 to 50 feet from the 



