July, 1880.] 



a:n^d oologist. 



105 



Owing to the presence of the Cowbird's 

 eggs in the nest I was afraid the female would 

 not lay a full set, and I very foolishly to<_)k the 

 two eggs of the Cowbird out of the nest. Al- 

 most as soon as I had done tliis I regretted it, 

 and the result showed my mistake, for when, 

 on the 30th of May, I returned my worst ex- 

 pectations were realized. The bird had not 

 only deserted the nest but had broken the egg 

 also! 



Thinking that the bird might have begun to 

 build another nest in the same woods I looked 

 about, and after awhile I found another which 

 I at first supposed was the second nest of the 

 pair whose nest was deserted, but I found 

 afterwards that I was mistaken. Although I 

 was very careful not to toucli this nest it was 

 deserted also. 



On the 2d of Jiuie, in another woods I found 

 my fourtli nest. It contained one egg. This 

 nest was placed on the ground between tlie 

 forks of a small bush, like the others, but it 

 was on a liillside about thirty feet above a 

 stream. 



I thought that I would certainly get a set 

 from this nest, but another disappointment 

 was in store for me, for on returning on the 

 6th of June I foiuid the nest deserted and the 

 egg broken. 



Going on from this woods to the other where 

 I had ft)und nests Nos. ], 2, and :], I found 

 that as I mentioned before the birds had de- 

 serted nest No. 3 also. By tliis time I was 

 beginning to get disgusted as I had found 

 three nests, and all of them had been deserted. 



I was looking through the woods for the 

 last time before going home, when suddenly a 

 Kentucky Warbler got up almost under my 

 feet and ran rai)idly along the ground. Looking 

 down I soon saw the nest and was delighted 

 to find it contained five beautiful eggs which 

 were perfectly fresh. It was evidently the 

 second nest of the pair that built nest No. 2, 

 as the egg in that nest was exactly similar to 

 the five I had now found. 



On June 7th, I went to another woods and 

 after looking around for over two hours with- 

 out success I began to get tired and sat down 

 for a few minutes. Suddenly a Kentucky 

 Warbler got up some distance from me (about 

 fifteen or twenty feet, I should say). I soon 

 found the nest. It was placed in a similar 

 position to the others, and contained five 

 slightly incubated eggs. The bird, while I 

 was packing up the nest and eggs, flew from 

 twig to twig uttering cries of distress. This 

 nest was on a slight hillside. 



About ten minutes afterwards in the same 

 woods another Kentucky Warbler got up very 

 near me. I found its nest in a few minutes. 

 It contained five young birds. The female 

 ran rapidly along the ground, trying to induce 

 me to follow it and leave the nest unmolested. 

 The male was also near by. 



This nest was placed, like all the others, at 

 the foot of a small bush. It was on a piece of 

 level ground between two dried-up streams, 

 and was smaller than the other nests, though 

 similar in construction. 



On June Oth, I found another nest of this 

 Warbler. I was walking through the same 

 woods where I found nest No. 4, when a Ken-, 

 tucky Warbler got u^) close to me. The nest 

 was easily found. It contained four fresh 

 eggs. It was placed like all the others at the 

 foot of a small bush, and was on a hillside. 

 This nest was somewhat different from the 

 others being more slightly put together and 

 having in addition to some dead leaves, some 

 green ones. The lining was tlie same as the' 

 others. 



I did not find any moie nests until the 21st 

 of June, when I found two which were both in 

 the same woods where I found my first set of 

 eggs. The young birds had left both these 

 nests, one could easily see by their condition. 

 One of the nests, however, contained one 

 rotten egg. They were both placed on the 

 ground between the forks of small bushes, in 

 swampy parts of the woods, and were about 

 an eighth of a mile apart. 



On the next day (the 22d), I found a nest 

 (which was just finished) in the woods where 

 I found my second set. I left this until the 

 29th, when I returned and flushed the bird. 

 The nest then contained three eggs of the 

 Warbler and one of the Cowbird, in which 

 incubation had begun. 



This nest had evidently been built by the 

 same pair of birds that I took a set of five 

 from on the 7th of June, as the two nests 

 were not more than fifty yards apart. It was 

 placed on the ground between two small 

 bushes in a rather open, level spot in the 

 woods and was about twenty yards from a 

 stream of water. 



Apparently the nests do not differ materially 

 except in size. Sometimes the lining consists 

 also of horse-hair in addition to the black 

 rootlets. The number of eggs in a set is from 

 three to six, though usually four or five. Mr. 

 Ladd has found two sets of three, while Mr, 

 Jackson twice found sets of six. The eggs, 

 like nearly all of those of the Warblers, are sub- 



