lU 



OKNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 13-No. 8 



Slie then flew to another tree and the male got 

 hi tlie nest, wliere he reinahied a short thne. 

 Meanw hile the female was being followed by 

 another liiid, whieh by tlie hungry motion of 

 its wings, its attitude of utter helplessness and 

 its note, I knew to be a young one, though be- 

 ing of the usual size, there was nothing else to 

 suggest its infancy. It was treated with "cold, 

 iudift'erent respect." I found that the pair had 

 hatched a brood earlier in the year which was 

 still following them. 



I liept them under eye for some time and on 

 dift'erent occasions for the purpose of ascertain- 

 ing the exact number of young and am sure it 

 was three. 



I took the nest of this pair with four fresh 

 eggs on June I'lth. Tlie male was incubating 

 and refused to be friglitened from the nest. 

 After throwing at him a few times, I buckled 

 on my climbers and went up the tree — a small 

 slim i)ine. The bird never left the nest until I 

 placed my finger on his head. When he left he 

 began singing and his mate immediately ap- 

 peared. They scolded me in a language pecul- 

 iar to other members of their family. I shot 

 the female. 



The second nest was found on June 11th. I 

 had located the nude by his song and the fact 

 that he was several times in a fight with a Pine 

 Warbler, which he evidently regarded as a tres- 

 passer, gave me assurance that his nest was 

 close at hand. However, I failed to discover it 

 until he went to it and the female flew away. 

 All attempts to frighten him from the nest 

 were also futile. He kept his seat until the 

 limb was cut oflF — this nest, too, was attached 

 to the limb of a tall, slender pine, about forty 

 feet from the ground and nine or ten feet from 

 the body of the tree. Both birds were shot, as 

 this nest, containing three eggs, was the first 

 taken, though the other was the first one found. 

 The set of three had been incubated for four or 

 five days. The two nests were less than a 

 hundred yards apart. 



The Mountain Solitary Vireos arrive quite 

 early and I feel that my observation of the 

 species, both as a migrant and as a breeder, 

 warrants me in saying that while with us it eon- 

 fines itself exclusively to the pine woods. The 

 song of the male is not very unlike that of the 

 lvede3'ed species {Viri-asi/hna oUiHid'a), and he 

 has the same habit of occasionally repeating his 

 notes very rapidly as though he were in a hurry 

 but did not care to leave anything unsung. In 

 fact, I believe this trait is more pronounced in 

 the Mountain Solitary than in the Eedeyed. 

 Mr. Norris has very kindly consented to de- 



scribe the eggs and a nest of the Mountain Sol- 

 itary for the readers of the O. it O. 



[Mr. Brewster and Mr. JIcLaughlin having 

 both sent in their papei's on this rare bird at 

 the same time, they are published together. 



Mr. McLaughlin has sent me one of the nests 

 which he refers to in his article, and also the 

 two sets of eggs for description. 



The nest is built suspended by the top edges 

 between the fork of a horizontal bi-anch about 

 half an inch in diameter. It is a much more 

 solid structure than any nest built by a bird of 

 this familj' that 1 have ever seeu. The exterior 

 is almost entirely covered with bits of bark, 

 cotton, hornets" nest and lichen. The interior, 

 or real l)ody of the nest, is composed of dried 

 grass several layers thick, and it is impossible 

 to see through it, as can be done with many 

 vireo's nests. 



The set of four eggs are of Ihe usual shape 

 foi' eggs of this family, white with a rosy tinge, 

 ipdte heavily spotted at the larger ends with 

 blight chestnut. The spots are not shai-ply de- 

 fined, but gradually fade into a lighter lint on 

 the outside margin of each piece of color. 

 This produces a very beautiful eft'ect : .SO x .50 ; 

 .SOx.59; .Six. 59; .Tyx.aO. 



The Set of three are of the same shape as the 

 preceding set. They are also white, but with- 

 out the rosy tinge in the foi'mer set, and more 

 glossy. The spots are smaller, more sharply 

 defined, and are of a darker shade of chestnut. 

 They are also more confined to the larger ends 

 than in the former set: .TUx.ul); .80 x .5S ; .79 

 x.o7. — J. P. N.] 



Nesting of Audubon's Warbler. 



in' W.M. G. SMITH, l.()VKI.ANl>, CUI.OUAl" ). 



On .July 1st I discovtu'ed the nest and four 

 eggs of Audubon's Warbler, (Di'iidraica audu- 

 b(jiii) in Estes Park, Larimer County. It is at 

 about 8000 feet elevation. 1 have never seen 

 any record of its breeding so far south, so I 

 thought it would interest some of the readers 

 of the O. & O. to give a brief description of it. 



The nest was placed in a water birch tree 

 near the river, about eight feet from ground, 

 and was composed of grass and small stems of 

 sage blush, well lined with horse hair and 

 feathers of the domestic fowl. Outside diame- 

 ter of nest about four inches, inside one and 

 one-tl)ird inches, and one and one-half inches 

 deep. The eggs measure on an average lS-32 

 x2;!-;i2 inches, and the ground color is light 



