58 



THE OOLOGIST. 



retiring habits frequenting low, 

 swampy places, and keeping near the 

 ground. 



In the early settlement of this prov- 

 ince the early settlers— had they been 

 so disposed— were more likely to ac- 

 quire a knowledge of the nesting habits 

 and life history of this as well as var- 

 ious other species, than is possible 

 now; for with the clearing up, and 

 drainage of the swampy woodlands the 

 summer haunts and homes of many 

 species of our wild birds have been very 

 much changed, and some species that 

 were formerly common in some locali- 

 ties, are now altogether absent, though 

 in other localities still in a state of 

 nature, they may be more abundant 

 than in former years. In more recent 

 years, since I have devoted more special 

 attention to the song notes of our forest 

 birds, and by this means identified 

 them, rather than by a near approach, 

 or the inspection of their lifeless forms, 

 I cannot say that I have detected the 

 presence of this wandering ranger of 

 the low-land wood in the vicinity of 

 Listowel, or any other locality that I 

 have visited, but I believe that in for- 

 mer years I have met with it not only 

 as a spring migrant, but also as a 

 summer resident, and that, at least, 

 on one occasion, I found it's nest. It 

 is now nearly twenty years ago, when, 

 on a day in early June, I was strolling 

 in a tract of swampy woodland, a mile 

 south of the town, a little bird 

 flew up almost from my feet, and dis- 

 appeared in some brush nearby; and 

 on looking down I discovered a nest 

 containing six eggs. This was near a 

 large turned-up root, but quite exposed, 

 and sunk in the moss and mould, and 

 composed largely of fine rootlets. The 

 eggs were of a white hue, dotted with a 

 circle of reddish brown towards the 

 larger end; altogether much like those 

 of the Mourning Warbler, and from 

 the glimpse that I got of the bird at 

 that time I took it to be that species; 



but from my since acquired knowledge 

 of the nesting habits of the latter 

 species, I concluded that it does not 

 nest in that manner, or position. Not 

 knowing the rarety of these specimens 

 I soon afterwards gave them to other 

 parties. 



The Connecticut Warbler is five and 

 a half inches in length, and the color 

 of the male bird in his spring plumage 

 is, on the upper parts, of an olive-green 

 hue; becomming ashy on the head; 

 while the chin, throat, and breast are 

 ashy gray, and there is a shading of 

 olive on the sides; the lower parts be- 

 ing yellow. The wings and tail are 

 also glossed with yellow, but otherwise 

 they are unmarked. The lower mand- 

 ible and the feet are of a paler color, 

 but there are no decided markings any- 

 where. 



Mr. E. Thompson-Seton, who has 

 done much towards enlightening the 

 public on the subject of the Faunal 

 life of Canada, in relating some of his 

 observations of bird life in Manitoba, 

 gives an interesting account of the 

 haunts and nesting of the Connecticut 

 Warbler there; the substance c f which 

 is as follows: 



"A few miles south of the Village of 

 Carberry is a large Spruce bush, in 

 the middle of which is a Tamarac 

 swamp, where Pitcher plants grow in 

 wild profusion, but in general it is a 

 dark, gray waste, interspersed with tall 

 tamarac trees, whose boughs cast little 

 shade. The chief bird notes heard in 

 a ramble through this primitive wil- 

 derness, were those of the Crested Fly- 

 catcher, besides these the only notable 

 sounds were the "Beecher"-like notes 

 oft repeated, of some Warbler. This 

 was much like the song of the Golden- 

 crowned Thrush, but differed in being 

 in the same uniform pitch, from be- 

 ginning to end. Guided by this 

 sound," says Mr. Seton, "I found the 

 bird high in the Tamaracs. It was not 

 shy, so it was easily secured, and it 



