190 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 7-No. 24 



and was constantly flying toward me and 

 snapping its bill. Here was new light. 

 As the V)ii-d would frequently fly to the top 

 of a particular hemlock and then dart hack 

 toward me, I Ijegan to feel sure of finding 

 its nest. I retreated a short distance and 

 watched the movements of my new ac- 

 quaintance, who perched upon the top of 

 the tree, seemingly to act as guard. A 

 striped squirrel ventured part way up the 

 tree, but when spied by the bird was in- 

 stantly driven down. After carefully 

 searching the tree for two hours, I noticed 

 something near the top which I thoTight 

 must be tlie long-sought nest. Upon 

 striking the tree with my axe I had the 

 satisfaction of seeing a liird fly away and 

 immediately return. A hard climb of 

 sixty-five feet brought me to the nest. It 

 was saddled upon a horizontal limb, six 

 feet from the trunk, and was closely con- 

 cealed by the small boughs. It was com- 

 posed of moss, ( Usnca bcvhata.) and dry 

 hemlock twigs. These were interwoven 

 into a loose, clumsy nest, the only lining 

 being about a dozen pieces of fine, dry 

 grass. I think this is the poorest piece of 

 bird architectiu'e that I have ever found, 

 but the three fresh eggs which the nest 

 contained were indeed beauties, their color 

 being a delicate creamy-white, marked 

 with large blotches and spots of brownish- 

 red, lavender and lilac, and fine spatters of 

 lilac. On one are a few black dots. Their 

 dimensions are, 95x64, 92x64, 91x65, 

 respectively. Both birds resented my 

 presence with great courage, and while I 

 was in tlie tree were constantly darting at 

 me in a decidedly vicious manner, snapping 

 their bills and Tittering their loud notes 

 with such vigor that a general commotion 

 was raised among all the feathered tribe 

 who were within hearing. 



A few weeks after finding tliis nest I 

 found another, within a few rods of the 

 first. This was also in a large hemlock 

 tree. As it contained young, I allowed it 

 to remain. It doubtless belonged to the 



same joair of l)irds that I robbed earlier in 

 the season. In his Birds of New Eng- 

 land, Samuels says of this bird : " It has 

 been fotuid breeding in Vermont : and Dr. 

 Thompson, in his work on the birds of that 

 State, gives a description of the nest and 

 eggs. Three nests have been found in Mas- 

 sachusetts within two years, two in West 

 Roxbury and one in Dorchester. These 

 were all built in forked twigs of apple trees 

 in old. neglected orchai-ds, facing to the 

 southward, and were constracted of the 

 same material that the Kingbird uses in its 

 nest. In fact, they were almost exactly 

 like the Kingbird's nest, but were a little 

 smaller." 



Samuels' description and my own ob- 

 servatit)n had led me to believe that it se- 

 lected an apple tree in which to build its 

 nest, but my exjDerience of the p:ist Sum 

 mer goes to convince me that it breeds 

 more conunonly than is usually sujaposed. 

 — C. O. Tracy, TaftsmlU. T7. 



The Caerulean 'Warbler. 



I discharge both loads fi-om my double- 

 barrel and bring down a pair of Warblers, 

 male and female, from the top of a tall ma- 

 ple. They are fine specimens of the Den- 

 droeca rceridea. Have they just dropped 

 down from the skies, and brought the pure 

 azure with them ? Except the dusky wings 

 and tail, dark wing-crests and centers of 

 many of the feathers, and white under- 

 parts, the epithet (Jceridean, sky-blue, is 

 certainly applicable to the male, particu- 

 larly to his head, back, and collar just 

 above the breast. Excepting her lighter 

 markings, less dusky wings and tail, mis- 

 sing collar, and greenish tint over the head 

 and back, the female is the same as the 

 male. This species has the streaks along 

 the sides, and the white marks in the outer 

 tail feathers, in common with the rest of 

 the Dendroeca. 



The Cferulean Warbler, appai'ently be- 

 longing to the Mississippi valley, and 

 scarcely a casual visitor on the Atlantic 



