THE OSPEEY. 



NOTE ON WILSON'S WARBLER. 

 By C. H. MoRKELL, Pittsfield, Me. 



Wilson's Warbler (JVilsoiiia piisilla) may be 

 safely classed as one of the rarest Warblers which 

 breed reg'vilarly in this State. It is nowhere 

 common, even as a migrant, arriving- during- the 

 second week in May with the main army of mi- 

 g-rating- Warblers. I always see it singly or in 

 pairs, never in flocks, at this time. They are 

 birds of the bush, never going- into larg-e woods 

 as do the Black-throated Green and Black- 

 1)urnian Warblers, but spend the summer in 

 knolly, bush-g"rown pastures bordering- \'oung- 

 growths. The males are in full song- Avhen they 

 arrive, and not much time is spent before nest- 

 building commences. The nest is placed under 

 a tuft of g-rass, or at the base of a shrub, and so 

 well concealed that it is seldom found, unless bj' 

 accident. If two nests are sufficient data to 

 warrant conclusions, it would seem that the}' 

 differ principally from those of other ground- 

 building- Warblers in the simplicit}' of material 

 used and in their small size. 



A nest found June 12th, 1892, was placed at 

 the base of a small shrub, and was mainly con- 

 structed of short pieces of g-rass, fairly well 

 woven tog"ether, with a wery few hairs ming-led 

 with the grass lining", and some moss and leaves 

 exteriorly. This nest contained four nearly 

 fresh eg-g"s, and measured as follows: Outside 

 cop diameter 3.00 x 3.50 inches; inside top diame- 

 ter 1.75; inside depth 1.25. 



A second nest found June 4th, 1897, was in the 



side of a depression in the g-round, well conceal- 

 ed by overhanging grass and shrubs. It was 

 constructed like the first one, with the exception 

 of the hair, in the place of which were a few 

 black, hair-like roots. This nest also contained^ 

 four eggs, in which incubation was advanced. 

 In both instances the parent bird was flushed 

 from the nest and remained near, flitting from 

 bush to bush, but not displaying great solicitude, 

 either by voice or action. The eggs have the 

 plain white ground with spots of brown and red 

 of various shades, common to most Warbler 

 eggs. The markings have a tendenc}' to wreathe 

 the larger end in some specimens, and spots 

 rather than blotches seem the rule; but there is 

 nothing that would distinguish them with cer- 

 tainty from the eggs of other ground-building 

 Warblers. In addition to these nests I have 

 frequently seen these Warblers leading a callow 

 brood about in June, and have come to regard 

 them as regular, though rare, summer residents 

 in this vicinity. Though Dr. Coues, in his de- 

 scription of this species in the "Key," says; "9 

 lacking" the black cap," this can hardly be a con- 

 stant feature, as I have carefully noted the ap- 

 pearance of the parents when I have found them 

 with nests or yotmg and always find the cap 

 present with both. Wilson's Warblers do not 

 tarry long- after the broods are reared and are 

 able to care for themselves, and few are found 

 here after the first of September. 



WINTER NOTES ON THE MYRTLE WARBLER (DENDROICA CORONATA) IN 



MASSACHUSETTS. 



Bv Foster H. Brackett, Boston, Mass. 



The Myrtle Warbler has been known for soine 

 twenty years or more, to occur sparingly, in 

 some localities in Mass., during" the winter, but 

 it is not until recent years that it has been 

 known to occur in an^' large numbers. 



One naturally associates the Warblers with 

 warni weather, when the trees are in leaf, and 

 the insects numerous, and it seems very much 

 out of place to find one of this family surround- 

 ed by snowdrifts, and enduring" the severe 

 weather of a bleak New Eng"land winter. 



My first winter experience with this species 

 was in Marshfield. a town about 30 miles south- 

 east of Boston, on the shore of Cape Cod Bay, 

 in January, 1894, and a few extracts from my 

 journal may be of interest. 



The last few days of January and the first 

 week of February, 1894, were unusually cold and 

 stormy, with severe g"ales and drifting snow- 

 storms, and the ver^' worst weather one would 

 think of chosing for looking" for Warblers in a 

 locality where the principal features were sand- 

 hills, long" stretches of beach, and salt marshes, 

 with a few scattered clumps of trees and bushes. 



January 27. Ther. 29° (8 a. m.) Hard north- 

 east gale all day, with driving snow. Impossi- 

 ble to see any great distance. 



Januai-y 28. Ther. 19°. Bright, sunny day. 

 Snow badly drifted. This morning two Myrtle 



Warblers flew into the trees back of the farm- 

 house, and stayed quite a while. 



January 29. Cloud}', raw and chilly. Saw a 

 Myrtle Warbler in the bushes on the hillside 

 near the marsh. This bird I chased for quite a 

 long distance, but it kept aggravatingly just 

 out of gun shot, and finally disappeared in the 

 woods leaving me floundering hopelessly in a 

 snowdrift. About 5 p. m. it commenced to blow 

 and rain, and increased to a gale which con- 

 tinued all night. 



February 2. Ther. 20°. A bright, crisp day 

 with strong northwest wind. 



February 3. Ther. 38°. Cloudy in the morn- 

 ng, but clearing at noon. 



Today I made a systematic search to discover, 

 if possible, the whereabouts of the Warblers I 

 have seen. A few scattered clumps of Alders 

 and White Birches, at the southerly base of a 

 hill on the edge of a wet meadow drained by 

 two or three small brooks and rushes, seemed as 

 likely a place as any, and here I found a flock 

 of about thirt}' birds scattered among the trees 

 and bushes, and feeding along the ditches. 



They were ver}' wild and difficult to approach, 

 acting more like Sparrows than Warblers, fly- 

 ing- from the bushes and trees into the open 

 spaces, lighting on the bushes or rocks, and 

 running along on the snow or ice, and hiding 



