96 



Bird - Lore 



So I watched this family until cooler days 

 told them that it was time to go southward. 

 — E. Marion Whitten, BeJ/ord, Mass. 



Notes on the Golden-winged Warbler 



Books tell us that the Golden-winged 

 Warbler is a rare bird or only locally com- 

 mon. I have been fortunate in lighting 

 upon one of the chosen localities of this 

 little-known bird, for it is really abundant 

 at Rhinebeck, N. Y., where I have been 

 spending the past summer. 



On May 12 it was first seen, and soon 

 after the song of the male was learnetl. It 



NEST OF GOLDEN-WINGED VVARBI.ER 



is a well-defined song of three or four syl- 

 lables — -xu/iee-zee-zee-zee (the first note 

 higher) — and in tone reminds one of the 

 nvhe-eze of the Blue-winged Warbler. 

 This song was heard frequently until about 

 July I. after which date I heard only the 

 incessant call-notes of the birds — dzee, dzee, 

 dzee. I am inclined to believe that these 

 notes may have been mistaken by some 

 writers for the "lazy and imaccented " song 

 of the bird. 



I'hough frequently seen elsewhere, these 

 Warblers were especially numerous in a cer- 

 tain patch of woods, in the lower end of 

 which, where the marshy ground attracted 



them, they were usually the commonest 

 birds about. I tried to estimate the number 

 of pairs in this wood. Although it was im- 

 possible to ascertain whether the same birds 

 were seen more than once, I feel sure that 

 I saw at least five separate adult males, but 

 probably ten would be nearer the correct 

 number of pairs that inhabited the wood. 

 Toward the end of June I resolved to find 

 a nest if possible; but though I searched 

 for several days I was unsuccessful. More 

 than once I hid myself to see if a female 

 would return to her nest. In such cases I 

 usually saw her at last feed a fully-fledged 

 yoimg bird — an operation which was accom- 

 panied by much dzeeing. 



During July the birds wandered about in 

 families. They came even to the house and 

 filled the locust trees round about. From 

 the seventh to the nineteenth of the month 

 (inclusive), the species was seen every day 

 in the course of my ordinary rambles, with- 

 out once being specially searched for. In- 

 deed it was the commonest of the Warblers 

 at that time. 



On July 28, long after I had given up all 

 hope of finding a Golden-winged Warbler's 

 nest, I was walking in the woods mentioned 

 above, when my ear was attracted by an 

 unfamiliar Warbler song. It consisted ah- 

 ways of eight notes — cher-s^vee-se-se-se-se 

 se-chee, with a fall on the last note; the 

 se-se-se notes were uttered very fast and the 

 initial chee was hardly audible. The mys- 

 terious voice led me to a small open space 

 in the midst of a thicket, where a bird 

 suddenly flew up from my feet, exposing a 

 neat little nest with two eggs. One egg 

 was pyriform with very minute specks, the 

 other oval with a few red blotches at the 

 larger end. It was too late that evening to 

 identify either the nest or the mysterious 

 singer. 



The next morning I only had time hur- 

 riedly to photograph the nest. I found that 

 the pyriform egg had hatched. The other 

 was clear and bad. I did not get a glimpse 

 of the owner of the nest, but was fortu- 

 nate in discovering the unknown song of 

 the previous evening to spring from a 

 male Golden-winged Warbler. Thus, I 

 had proof that this Warbler, like some 



