32 Illinois /State Laboratory of JSatural History. 



aiul two of the cowbird ; five of the warbler and one of the 

 cowbird. Some have expressed their belief that the cow- 

 bird only deposits her egp: when the nest is in a large, 

 natural cavity, and that she never enters an excavated 

 hole for this purpose; but the entrances to many of the 

 nests containing the parasites' eggs are so small and 

 round, that apparently only the owners can slip through. 

 How the large and awkward cowbirds deposit their eggs 

 is a question yet to be solved. 



The warblers never wander far from the location of their 

 nest, and the song of the male bird can always be heard 

 in the immediate vicinity. In fact, when looking for a 

 nest, I invariably listen for the song, and with a little 

 searching, I soon have the cavity located. AVhen a 

 nest is molested, unless it contains young, the birds 

 are very indifferent and seldom come near. The female 

 sits very closely, and can easil3^ be caught by clapping 

 the hand over the entrance. 



Perhaps the only enemies this bird has to contend 

 with, except the egg collectors, are the snakes. I have 

 had man3' fine sets destroyed by the intrusion of a water 

 snake before the clutch was completed. The first nest of 

 the prothonotary warbler that I ever found, was dis- 

 covered by seeing a snake crawl slowly out of a hole in 

 a stump with a beautiful e^ra^ in its mouth. 



A memorable visit was made, a year or two ago, in 

 the congenial company of m^^ friend, B. F. Bolt, to Spring 

 Lake, a veritable paradise for the golden swamp warbler. 

 This lake is one of the many lying along the Illinois 

 River, and has gained the reputation of being one of the 

 finest fishing and hunting resorts in the State. It is 

 situated between the wooded bluffs on the east, and the 

 river on the west, bounded on all sides by miasmatic 

 swamps, luxurious growths of aquatic vegetation, im- 

 penetrable and vast in extent, interspersed with heavy 

 willow growths, miniature forests of dead and lifeless 

 trees, in many of which are visible, for a o-reat distance, 

 the bulky nests of the cormorant. Isolated patches of 

 beautiful and graceful trees, some of them venerable forest 



