THE OOLOGIST. 



57 



while the little performer itself is 

 invisible. At times he will rise to a 

 considerable elevation, and after a 

 pleasing performance of quite a differ- 

 ent series of musical notes, in the vent- 

 ing of which he appears to take n)iJP^ 

 pleasure and pride, and during ,w|iich 

 he makes a raijibow like cjj:-c4e;»,,^p 

 makes a rapid descent into ti^e-.thj^et 

 below.^near where, v.it is probable, the 

 female has her nesting place. Another 

 particular haunt of this bird is small 

 clearings in tracts of hardwood forest, 

 and along the sides of roadways through 

 primitive woods, but it is seldom ob- 

 served out in the open fields, except in 

 the backwoods settlement, nor does it 

 often approach the garden, or other 

 environments of human habitations, 

 and, except where the woods are open, 

 it will not be found deep in the forest, but 

 as the original forests of southern On- 

 tario are fast disappearing, time will, 

 no doubt, effect great changes in the 

 summer haunts of this species. In 

 eastern Canada, the Mourning Warbler 

 does not appear to advance further 

 north than the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 

 and the valley of the Ottawa River, 

 but in the western portion of its range, 

 which extends to the foot hills of the 

 Rocky Mts., it may extend its summer 

 range to more northern latitudes, and 

 higher altitudes, than in the east. Too 

 little is yet known of the nesting his- 

 tory of this Warbler, to describe wheth- 

 er it deposits more than one set of eggs 

 in the season, certainly its nesting per- 

 iod would not allow of its raising more 

 than one brood during its summer stay 

 in Canada ; but where the first clutch 

 of eggs are taken it will doubtless nest 

 a second time. But considering the 

 many enemies among the smaller mam- 

 mals, birds of prey and reptiles to 

 which its eggs and young are exposed 

 it is doubtful if even one brood is rais- 

 ed by each pair of the species that 

 cross our national boundry with each 

 return of spring ; even in the most pro- 

 tective localities ; though the process 



of civilization is rather in favor of its 

 increase except from the presence of 

 the domestic cat and yet it is wonder- 

 ful how some nests of our garden fre- 

 quenting birds will escape the attention 

 of^this agile feline foe.^, fhe chief 

 I^rotective means resorted to, ,by this 

 species is by sel,ei<;tii:ig; . a deep shady 

 ^poteith^j, among thick herbage, vines 

 pr ypungi\, underwood on or near the 

 groiuQd, and then when incubation has 

 begun and as soon as the female be- 

 comes aware of danger she does not fly 

 directly from the nest but quietly runs 

 off among the surrounding shade and 

 does not take wing till some distance 

 away, nor does she return to her charge, 

 till she thinks the danger is over. 

 These efforts to protect her progeny 

 are so far as human kind are concerned 

 so successful that very few of the nests 

 are ever discovered, and its eggs are, 

 and ever likely to remain a rarity in 

 oological collections, but the case is 

 very different with the lower orders of 

 Carnivorous mammals and snakes, 

 which are ever on the search to find 

 and devour the eggs and young of every 

 species that comes within their reach. 

 In this, charge the Red Squirrel, the 

 Chipmunk, the Weasel, the Mink, the 

 Fox and the Skunk, are among the 

 chief transgressors that range the- 

 haunts of the Warble s, while nearer 

 human habitations, cats, rats, and even 

 mice do their deadly work, and no 

 enemy of all the Warbler family is 

 more dreaded than the vagabond Cow- 

 bird. During the past twenty years a 

 number of the nests of the Mourning 

 Warblers have come under my observa- 

 tions and the finding of these has been 

 rather accidental than the results of 

 continuous field and forest research, 

 Guelph, Ont., Daily Herald. 



Probably more authentic sets of this 

 Warbler have been taken in Orleans 

 county, N. Y., than any other locality 

 as restricted. 



They much prefer the first nesting 

 site mentioned. They do not nest but. 

 once unless disturbed. Ed. 



