124 



ORNrniOI.OGIST 



[V..1. Iti-No. 8 



of cobwebs, rabbit hair and lichens. Seven 

 eggs, iiKuibation ailvanced. White, heavily 

 speckled and spotted with hazel: .70x.r)4; 

 .75X.55; .7:!x.55; .74x.54; .72x.r)5; .74x.r)5; 

 .75X.54. 



Set XIII. Jl-iy 9, 18S8. Nazareth, Penn. 

 Nest in red oak, abo)it ninety feet up. Com- 

 posed of the Ijark of trees, lichens, wild cotton 

 and rabbit fur. Nine eggs, fresh. White, 

 very heavily speckled and spotted with hazel. 

 There are also a few spots of lilac-gray: 

 .74X.54; .77X..50; .77X..54; .73x..5r); .75x.W; 

 .7()X..57; .78x..o5; .7Sx..52; .73x..54. This is 

 a very beautifully marked set, and is tlie only 

 one in the series that contains nine eggs. It 

 is a very unusual number for this bird, for 

 although sets of ten have been taken they are 

 very r.are. From six to eight (especially the 

 latter number) would seem to be the usual 

 clutch. 



Set XIV. May .'), 1SS8. Nazareth, Penn. 

 Nest composed of lichens and bark of trees, 

 lined with wool and rabbit hair. In white 

 oak tree, about seventy-five feet up. Five 

 eggs, fresh. Creamy white, very heavily 

 speckled and spotted with hazel and lilac- 

 gray. The markings on this set are much 

 more evenly distributed over the entire sur- 

 face than is nsu.al for this species: .77x.r)S; 

 .llx.hS; .l->x.r,-; .77X.57; .7Sx..-)7. 



Set XV. April 24, 1S8.5. Lafayette County, 

 Miss. Nest in hollow limb of white oak tree. 

 Composed of feathers and lichens. Eight eggs, 

 fresh. White, heavily speckled and spotted 

 with hazel. There are a few spots of lilac- 

 gray also: .70X.57; .C9x.5S; .68x..')6; .6!lx..J7; 

 .6Sx..')7; .fi7x..57; .eSx.56; .C8x.57. 



J. P. N. 



The Nest of the Maryland Yellow- 

 throat. 



All books and periodicals liave been accus- 

 tomed to assign the nest of this species to tlie 

 i/ronml. For many years I looked for it on 

 the ground, and looked in vain. During the 

 twelve years in which I was preparing for the 

 publication of my book. Our JiirdK in Their 

 Tldiintu, the nest escaped my search, though 

 I met the bird constantly, from Lake Superior 

 and Nova .Scotia to the southern states. 



There is something very peculiar about 

 finding birds' nests. We may read all about 

 them and look for them, as we think, in just 

 the right place; but somehow they escape us. 



Hy and by, to our great joy, we find one of the 

 very kind so long looked for; and now we can 

 find almost any number of that kind right 

 along. The secret of our success is, we have 

 had experience, we have become practical, we 

 have learned all the little circumstances of the 

 location of the nest and know exactly where 

 to look for it. 



Any incorrect information, therefore, is 

 very misleading. So I found it to be in the 

 case of the nest of the Maryland Yellow-throat- 

 ed Warbler, — a wretchedly long name and not 

 very appropriate, but a name will stick. Since 

 coming to Washington, however, and spending a 

 great deal of time in growing fruit and veget- 

 ables on my small estate in the suburbs of the 

 city, where the bird is about as abundant as it 

 could well be, I have seen a largo number of 

 the nests. Not one of tliem han heen on the 

 ground. Placed in small bushes and in tus- 

 socks of gra.ss, it is often <piite near the 

 ground, never nearer, however, than two or 

 three inches, often as much as six or eight 

 inches, and in one case, of which I have been 

 credibly informed, as far as two feet from the 

 ground. 



The nest, gracefully concealed by the ovei- 

 hanging grass or bushes, is neatly built, not 

 unlike that of the Indigo Hird, or that of the 

 P^iehl .Sparrow, and, like these, is lined with 

 borse-liair. The eggs, four in number gener- 

 ally, are clear white, speckled with reddish- 

 brown. 



The nidification of this spcides is not con- 

 fined to low, swampy places, as one might 

 infer from the generally received impression 

 as to the habitat of the bird. It will take up 

 its abode in any suitable thicket where tall, 

 thick grasses and plenty of low bushes are 

 found. A raspberry or blackberry patch on 

 new ground, where clumps of bushes come up 

 annually around the stumjis, is a favorite 

 resort for this species, and as its lial>its are 

 strictly insectivorous it is a good servant in 

 such a locality. Probably it helps itself to a 

 few berries, as pretty much all the small 

 birds do; but is it not written "Thou shalt 

 not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn " ? 

 Who would grudge that happy and musical 

 little bird-servant a few rjrdinK of fruit in a 

 season".' The Catbird is about the woist 

 enemy to small fruit, especially the grajies; 

 but I do not allow my boys to shoot it. It is 

 ditficult to estimate the extent of service of 

 one such bird in a season in keeping down 

 noxious insects. J. II. Lfnirjille. 



Smithsonian Institution. \\'.-ishin|iton, D. C. 



