165 



which were brought from either side of the ditch and fastened 

 together. Could this artifice have been resorted to as a means of 

 protection against the attacks of predatorj' animals ? The nest was 

 deep, and more compactlj' felted than is common. Its nest is very 

 commonly suspended to the rushes of the marshes that border the 

 Hudson. 



The ^Maryland Yellow-throat delights to inhabit wet meadows and 

 swampy thickets, in which it moves restlessly about, uttering a sharp 

 chick, and numerous chattering notes. In spring, after the pairing 

 season, the various mated couples ramble through the thickets and 

 rank grass, constantlj'^ reminding their partners of their whereabouts 

 by a sharp, clicking call-note. Its song is loud and sweet. You may 

 often see it upon a rail-fence singing, in very much the same attitude 

 as that assumed by the Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) ; at other 

 times it chooses for a rostrum the highest tree-top. Just before 

 night-fall it may be seen flying up in the air, singing as it goes, writh- 

 ing its body as does the Yellow-breasted Chat {Icteria virens) ; then it 

 suddenly drops to the ground. 



Dimensions — Average measurements of eighteen specimens : length, 

 5-33; stretch, 7-20; wing, 2-17; tail, 2*05; bill from nostril, -31; gape, 

 •58; tarsus, -80; middle toe, -50; its claw, -20. 



46. Geothlypis Philadelphia, {Wilson). Mourning Ground 

 Warbler. A rare migrant. Arrives about the middle of May (13, 

 1878), departing before June (May 26, 1876). Prof. James M. De 

 Garmo showed me a specimen taken at Rhinebeck on the Hudson. It 

 has also been taken by the collectors lower down the river, and Mr. 

 George N. Lawrence includes it in his list of the birds of the vicinity 

 of New York.*^ Mr. George Welch met with these birds in the Adi- 

 rondacks, in June, 1870, where they seemed rather abundant, and 

 were evidently breeding. Mr. John Burroughs found its nest at the 

 head-waters of the Delaware River, at Roxbury, Delaware County, 

 N. Y. ; has frequently observed tins Warbler in that section. "About 

 the head of the Neversink and Esopus, in the northern part of Ulster 

 County, New York, they are the prevailing Warbler, and their song 

 may be heard all day long." Dr. C. Hart Merriam some years since 

 described its nestling, as observed at Locust Grove, Lewis County, 

 N. Y., in the "American Naturalist"; he farther adds :^ "Large num- 

 bers of them breed regularly, in suitable localities, in Lewis and Her- 

 kimer Counties, in northern New York." 



Dimensions. — Measurements of No. 1,000, ^ ad., May 26, 1876, High- 

 land Falls, N. Y., E. A. M. : length, 5-63 ; stretch, 8-13 ; wing, 2-56 ; tail, 



?Aiin. Lye. Nat. Hist., Vol. VIII, p. 283, April, 186G. 

 9 Trans. Conn. Acad., Vol. YI, p. 23, 1877. 



