[38 



THE YELLOW WARBLER. 



Nests ma} be placed at any height in orchard trees or willows, but without 

 doubt the most acceptable nesting site is afforded by the dense swamp thickets 

 of the Carolina rose. In a day's nesting in the Oak Point swamps of Lorain 

 County, forty-two occupied nests of eight species were examined by myself 

 and a companion, and of these eleven were Yellow Warbler's. 



The cradle of this bird is an exquisite fabrication. The tough inner bark 

 of certain weeds — called indiscriminately hemp — together with grasses and 

 other fibrous materials in various proportions, is woven into a compact cup 

 about, or settled into, some stout horizontal or ascending fork of bush or tree. 



As a result the 

 bushes are full of 

 Warblers' nests two 

 or mure seasons old. 

 A fleecy lining or 

 mat i if plant-down is 

 a more or less con- 

 spicuous feature of 

 every nest. Upon 

 this as a background 

 a scanty horse-hair 

 lining may exhibit 

 every strand; or, ag 

 I once saw in Wash- 

 ington, the eggs 

 themselves may be 

 thrown into high re- 

 lief by a coiled black 

 mattress. 



The Yellow War- 

 bler displays particu- 

 lar ingenuity in ban- 

 ishing the Cowbird's 

 unwelcome egg. In- 

 stead of deserting 

 the spot the birds 

 place a false bottom 

 across the nest and 

 raise the sides to 

 correspond. — two 

 stories. with the 

 ax unusually deep M-i ground floor to let. 



Three- and even four-ston nests of this sort have been found. 



