ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 13-No. 1 



nest, but the tendency is to a good colony with 

 this species. I know a swamp where may be 

 found seventy-five pairs of these summer resi- 

 dents. The tirst time I visited the Preston col- 

 ony on the 31st of May, I took eight sets of 

 four. The first time I visited another large 

 community in this county on June o, on a point 

 of land trending into salt water, I took eleven 

 sets of four. 

 Four is the usual clutch. Five are now and then 

 found. Dr. Brewer reported to me a set of six 

 from Taunton. A still larger set will be re- 

 ferred to below. The eggs are especially fra- 

 gile, and if incubated can hardly be blown 

 without breaking. Addled eggs may instantly 

 be told by the added polish, and by the loss of 

 the rosy suftusion. 



The nests are built on dead or green trees, 

 and on savins or deciduous trees, at var3'ing 

 heights. I took one from the single filament of 

 moss caught on the green twig of a birch, with- 

 in five inches of the ground, and others close to 

 the trunks of great oaks fifty feet in the air. 

 On the lower swamp, huckleberry brush in the 

 littoral colony is a favorite site. 



The Parula Warbler escapes the notice of the 

 Cow Bunting. One addled " lazy-bird's" egg 1 

 did come across, but the side of the nest was 

 torn and Parula had deserted it. Many savins 

 are scattered among the inland colony, and 

 there the Blue Jay often destroj'S the clutch. 

 But again, with the shore race, Icterus spurius, 

 often breeds in the same tree, and in some in- 

 stances on the same branch, in harmony. 



A new nest will be built at once, if the first 

 is destroyed, and three sets of eggs laid. If 

 not disturbed, only an occasional second brood 

 will be reared. 



Usnea when detached is perishable. If kept 

 in a cellar or damp place, disintegration sets in, 

 and in a few seasons the nests tall to dust at a 

 touch. Placed in dry air they loose color soon, 

 and eventually their shape. But if taken in 

 situ, with the surroundings of leaf, twig and 

 moss, for a while some beautiful examples can 

 be shown. Through the lace-work, the eggs 

 can in most cases be seen above, and should be 

 removed with a small spoon to preserve the en- 

 trance inviolate. 



In June 10, 188G, I had been wading for hours 

 about the swamp on Groton, Long Point, looking 

 into nests of 1. spuruis. Veery and Parula with 

 indifferent success, noting only pairs and trios, 

 when in despair I crossed to an outstanding 

 hornbeam, hoary with lichen. I saw no birds, 

 heard no feeble •' chit" of alarm, and after out- 

 lining the limbs in succession against the sky 



without seeing the semblance of a nest, it oc- 

 curred to me to rap on the tree. At the first 

 vigorous pound, a Blue Yellow-back flew away 

 like a shot from a solid bank of moss near the 

 trunk some ten feet high. To scramble up and 

 see the best hidden nest of my life was a mo- 

 momenl's work. A glam^e inside sufficed to 

 catch a glimpse of five eggs. So, carefully de- 

 taching the top fibres from the huge limb 

 above, 1 bent the tips of the nest together, took 

 them in my mouth, and descended carefully. 

 It was not until I had placed the nest on the 

 ground and spread the top wide open, that I 

 realized I had taken the biggest clutch on re- 

 cord — seven fresh eggs. This set, with a good 

 series, will be properly described by Mr. Nor- 

 ris. 



But aside from them, I have examined a hun- 

 dred sets of these eggs, and could take more of 

 them than of all the other local warblers com- 

 bined, if they were needed for science. I used 

 to think, judging by the two series from com- 

 munities twenty-four miles apart, that family 

 differences could be ti'aced, that the inland lot 

 displayed inherited lil.-icand lavender markings, 

 and the others only the simple reddish annu- 

 lations which is the commoner type. But a few 

 seasons work showed that the eggs were inter- 

 grading continually, and this year's observa- 

 tion clearly proves that no such tlistinction can 

 be maintained. 



But it is a fact, however, while the Preston 

 race is in full breeding activity by May 31, June 

 4 is the time to look for full sets at the shore. 

 For nine jears, this ditt'erence in time was held 

 good. Perhaps fogs and cold winds off the 

 water delay oviposition. as they surely retard 

 field and garden vegetation. When blown, the 

 eggs are pure white. Sis sets of fresh-blown 

 Praii'ie Warbler's eggs, placed by the side of 

 Parula sets, disclosed the fact that the eg^s of 

 D. discolor are tinged with green. They are 

 given as wliite by writers, and could only be 

 shown to be otherwise by comparison. The ag- 

 gregation of markings of the Parula's eggs is at 

 the larger end, and no egg dis])lays the diffusion 

 of spots over the entire surface like some ex- 

 amjdes of D. rnficapiUa. On these delicate eggs, 

 instances of heavy blotching are very rare, and 

 the magnificently blotched set given to Mr. 

 Norris by Mr. ¥. H. Carpenter, must be regard- 

 ed as whollj' exceptional. 



[Few persons are aware, in all prf)l>ability, of 

 the variation in size, color and markings of 

 the Blue Yellow-backed Warbler {Parula 

 aniericana, or according to the nomenclature 

 of the American Ornithologist's Union Conip- 



