166 



2-13; culmen, 39; bill from nostril, -32; gape, 57; tarsus, -78; middle 

 toe, -53 ; its claw, -18. 



47. Icteria virens, (Linne.) Yellow-breasted Chat. A com- 

 mon summer resident, breeding plentifully. Arrives before the middle 

 of May (24, 1873; 12, 1874; 1, 1875 [Frederic S. Osborn], 9 [Mearns] ; 

 3, 187G; 7, 1877; 7, 1878; 7, 1879), and spends the summer. 



The Yellow-breasted Chat is sure to attract attention by the singu- 

 larity of its habits and voice. Several pairs of Chats always nestle 

 in some bushy fields in the neighborhood of my house, where they 

 keep up an incessant clatter during the early part of the season. I 

 have sometimes heard it at intervals during the night. It is quite 

 shy, and by a judicious use of its remarkable ventriloquial powers can 

 generally manage to keep out of harm's way. Among other equally 

 rifliculous performances, it has the habit of flying up in the air, with 

 its legs dangling, then allowing itself to drop nearly to the ground. 

 Its eggs, four in number — sometimes five — are deposited about the 

 first of June (found two nests June 1st and 3rd, 1873, each contain- 

 ing four eggs), in a nest built in a thicket. Mr. Peter de Nottbeck 

 showed me specimens shot as far up the Hudson as Fishkill Landing, 

 where he has also procured specimens of the Hooded Warbler {Myio- 

 dioctes mitratus) and Worra-eatiug Warbler (Ilehnitherus vermivorus). 



Dimensions. — Average measurements of nine specimens : length, 

 7-44; stretch, 9-98; wing, 3-00; tail, 3-07; bill from nostril, -41 ; gape, 

 •78; tarsus, 1-02; middle toe, -64; its claw, -24. 



48. Myiodioctes mitratus, (Gmdin). Hooded Warbler. A 

 very common summer resident; breeds abundantly. Arrives before 

 the middle of May (11, 1875; 8, 1876; 15, 1877; 4, 1878; 12, 1879); 

 remains till about the middle of September (5 and 8, 1874). 



The Hooded Warbler is one of our most abundant summer War- 

 blers. It is a very attractive species, both on account of its brilliant 

 plumage and its delicious song. It is found in solitary woodlands, 

 where it may be easily traced by its loud notes, which continue 

 throughout the summer. It builds its nest in the crotch of some low 

 bush, very often that of a laurel (^Kalmia) ; it is a neat, well-felted 

 structure, which bears some resemblance to that of the Indigo Bird 

 (^Cyanosjnza cyaned). Its eggs (first brood) are laid about the last of 

 May (26, 1877). Four is the usual complement, although five are 

 occasionally deposited. Owing to its situation, the nest is not easily 

 discovered, unless by watching the parents during its construction; 

 nevertheless I have taken no less than three, each containing four 

 fresh eggs, during a single walk. Its eggs are white (possessing a 

 beautiful glow of pink before their contents are extracted), with more 

 or less heavy spotting of red, chiefly about their larger ends. Some- 

 times sets are found which are nearly immaculate, while others are 



