June, 1889.] 



AKD OOLOGIST. 



85 



Kites' eggs we collected. Although we saw a 

 great many more birds before we left the State, 

 we never found any more nests. 



At Key West, Florida, in the month of June, 

 we saw two Kites sailing over the town. This 

 was the last glimpse we had of this beautiful 

 bird. G. B. Benners. 



Philadelphia. 



Nesting of the Prairie Warbler in 

 Fairfax Co., Va. 



The northeastern part of Virginia, where I 

 spent the season of 1884, two weeks in 1887, 

 and three weeks in 1888, may well be termed 

 the home of the Prairie Warbler {Dendroica 

 discolor). I believe this species cannot be 

 found in greater abundance, during the breed- 

 ing season, in any other part of the country. 



The place where the following notes were 

 taken is in Centreville Township, Fairfax 

 County, about twenty-five miles west of Wash- 

 ington, D. C. 



The country jvist at this point is hilly, and 

 each of the numerous hollows and ravines has 

 its "branch," which flows either into the 

 Popeshead or into Bull Run; the latter stream 

 drains that part of the county. The land 

 seems to be of little value; fields not under 

 cultivation are, in a few years, covered with a 

 dense growth of worthless pines. In other 

 places, where the hard wood has been cut off, 

 but which have not been grubbed over, a thick 

 deciduous growth of sprouts, suckers and 

 vines springs up. The Prairie Wai'bler is 

 found equally as plentiful among the second 

 growth as in the pines, but it is much easier 

 to find the nests among the latter. In the 

 scrub an oak, maple or alder sprout is usually 

 selected, and when the birds start building, 

 the leaves are small and do not conceal the 

 stem and branches; at this time the nest is 

 not difficult to find. But the foliage grows 

 rapidly, and often by the time the eggs are 

 laid the spreading leaves so completely cover 

 and conceal the nest that one must part them 

 to see it. 



My acquaintance with this wai'bler began 

 May 13, 1884, when, as I was passing througli 

 a large tract of second growtli. a bird left its 

 nest almost at my side. Finding the contents 

 wei"e four eggs, I moved back a short distance, 

 and on the return of the bird a few moments 

 later its identity was established. 



This nest was in the most peculiar position 

 of any found since; a small dead branch had 



in some way lodged in the top of an oak sprout, 

 three feet from the ground; two prongs on 

 one end of it were in an upright position, and 

 between these the birds had built their nest. 

 To take it I had only to lift the dead branch 

 from its position. 



Within an hour after the discovery of the 

 first nest two more were found, and during 

 the following week the number was increased 

 to eleven, from nine of which sets of eggs 

 were taken. 



In 1887, I returned to the locality, mainly 

 for the purpose of collecting a series of these 

 eggs, and was successful beyond my greatest 

 expectations. 



From my arrival, on May 13th, to the 26th, 

 I was in the field almost constantly while there 

 was daylight; the result, twenty-four nests 

 with eggs, was gratifying. Six nests were 

 found the first day, and during the balance of 

 my stay twenty-nine more were discovered; 

 all were new; but eleven, for unknown reasons, 

 were deserted after their completion. 



When I visited the place again last season 

 (1888), I intended to pay but little attention to 

 this species, but to look up other rarer ones 

 known to breed thei-e. However, meeting 

 with such poor success, I was tempted con- 

 tinually into the old fields and scrubby places, 

 where the Prairie Warbler could be found, 

 and the number of nests of tliis species dis- 

 covered exceeded that of the previous year. 

 Between May 9th and 30th, thirty-nine new 

 nests were found, of which twenty-two yielded 

 sets of eggs. The Crows, Blue Jays, and 

 black snakes were probably to blame for the 

 absence of eggs in many of the other nests. 

 That this species usually builds a second nest 

 when their first is destroyed, I am quite satis- 

 fied. Near the end of May, nests were noticed 

 in different stages of erection close to the 

 sites of others that had been taken from ten 

 days to two weeks earlier. It pleased me to 

 note this fact, as it assured me that no serious 

 liarm had been done to the birds by taking 

 their first nest. 



The record of the height of eighty-three 

 nests shows that tlie highest was seven feet, 

 the lowest two feet and the average four feet. 

 Of this number forty- two were on pines or 

 cedars (very few on cedars), the remainder 

 being placed on deciduous trees, bushes or 

 vines. 



When the birds select a pine they seldom 

 place the nest on a branch, but generally at- 

 tach it to the stem, resting its base on one or 

 more twigs growing out horizontally or at an 



