118 



THE OSPREY. 



LIFE HISTORY OF THE PRAIRIE WARBLER (DENDROICA DISCOLOR). 

 i:\ Jko. W. Daniel, Jr., Lvnchburg, Va. 



Among the »o called Wood Warblers i Mnu til- 



61 the genus Dendroica, we find many 



t ypes of bird life thai for delicacj "i form and 



coloring', it not for warbling', rank first upon 



the list of Norl h A mei ican birds. 



Ornithologists and Oologists who have been 

 much afield are not likely to forg-el their firs! 

 acquaintance with anj member of this interest- 

 ing fa in i 1 v < 'l birds. 



The striking coloring of some of the forms, as 

 in Hi.- Black-bumian, Magnolia, Cerulean and 

 will,!-,, make them g'eneral favorites, -.villi 

 highesl i .mi., in ae thetic ornithology. From the 

 Cape May Warbler, which occupies the first plai e 

 in t he American i Ornithologists' nomenclature to 

 the Prairie Warbler which is the last, the family 

 pr< .-ii I-. an array of beautiful species. Passing 

 them all by, I would select the last on the list, 

 the Prairie Warbler (Dendroii i discolor) for the 

 subject of this article because with lliis species 

 I am more familiar than wiih any of its rela- 

 tions. 



(in May 12th, 1890, according to my notes, I 

 found the Prairie Warbler for the first time at 

 Lynchburg, and at every .season since, have 

 found ii breeding abundantly among the thick- 

 ets of dogw 1 and scrub-oaks, among clumps 



.if blackberry bushes in the pasture lands, and 

 in the scattered g-rowth of small pines with 

 which many of the Mills are covered. 



A locality particularly favorable to many 

 pairs .if these birds, however, is a slope covered 



with a mixed growth of scrub-oak, dogw I 



bushes and blackberry briars, along a small 

 stream called "Blackwatei l reek." On the out- 

 skirts of i in' thickel there is a stragg'ling growth 

 nl' small pines. Tin' Warblers breed in surpris- 

 ing numbers all along the edg'es of the thicket 

 ami wherever the growth is broken by "clear- 

 ings;" they seem to prefer the more open parts, 

 rather than where the lupins ami briars are 

 dense ami tangled. 



They arrive early in April, appearing in small 

 numbers between the tenth ami fifteenth, and 

 arriving in. greater numbers during the rest of 

 ih. mouth. H is in the season of arrival that 

 most of the birds are singing. The song is one 

 which once lieard is not likely to be forgotten. 

 Ii is unusual, quaint and striking. Six or seven 

 syllables, uttered in crescendo with emphasis on 

 next I" the last note, sound something like "zee- 



zee-2 ei zee." But it is hardly dis- 



cribable. Dr. Coues characterizes it as "sound- 

 ing like a mouse with the tooth ache." s 



,i i i,i ai rival, the birds commence nest building. 

 The nesting site is very variable. The average 

 site is .in upright crotch of a dogwood, scrub oak 

 oi a small pine, from three to five and-a-half 

 feet up, though sometimes lower, and not infn 

 quently higher. When the nest is in a blackberry 

 lmsli the heig'ht varies from i \\ ■ > to ban- feet . 1 1 

 is always lirinU attached at the sides by means 

 of cob-webs and vegetable fibre to the limbs or 

 briar si a Iks which support it. 1 1 is a snug little 

 structure ol closely woven shreds ot weed-bark, 

 cotton j vegetable substances and various fibres, 

 . . ipact and cupped, The interior lining is 



usually ol fine and softer material of the same 

 nature, sometimes plan t-down, cow and horsehair 



i. i p's wool and occasionally a few feathers. 



Nest building having commenced late in 

 April or early in May, the nests are usually 

 completed by the 8th of May. A day seems 

 to elapse before the first egg is laid. The 

 four eggs an- deposited during four consecutive 

 days, an egg being laid early each morning. It 

 is interesting to note the uniformity which the 

 various pairs of birds of this species in a locality 

 , ,ii i \ out hi the matter of laying. The majority 

 of nests contain a similar number ol eggs t" the 

 incompleted sets, during the period of laying, 

 the nest holding a greater or less number of eggs 

 being in very .small pereen lane. 1 have observed 

 this occurence for many years iii the same 

 locality, and have found as many as fifteen 

 nests, twelve containing three eggs, two con- 

 taining two eggs and one containing four eggs 

 during a day's (May 12th, 1896) search. The 

 l ih o! May has always been my lucky date for 

 full sets. if four eggs, it being rare to lind nests 

 con tain g that number of eggs before that date. 

 Nearly all nests found on the twelfth contained 

 three eggs, and these sets would be full (four 

 eggs) on the following day. The birds are of 

 sociable disposition, and where one pair is found 

 nesting, others are likely to be found in the 

 same neighborhood. Occasionally isolated 

 pairs are found, but this is not often. ( luce a 

 locality is selected by pairs of birds and its con- 

 ditions be at all favorable, they seem to become 

 strongly attached to it. ami will return in suc- 

 cessive years, each pair of birds breeding near 

 the spot where their nest of the previous year 



was placed. 



During the early part of the nesting season 

 the birds sing a good deal, but as the weather 

 becomes warmer, the singing ceases, and the 

 p enliar trilling is not heard again duringthe 

 year, there not being a second soul; period. 

 The male as well as the female attends to the 

 duties of nest building, incubation, and the 

 rearing of the young. 



The food consists of insects, such as cater- 

 pillars, spiders, larvae, etc. 



When the nests are approached, the birds are 

 usually very demonstrative, and often closely 

 approach tin- intruder, uttering a very faint 

 complaining note sounding like "tsip-tsip-tsip-" 



The period of incubation appears to be four- 

 teen days, averagely, though sometimes longer. 

 The young remain in the nest about ten days, 

 and arc fed i>\ the parents until they have 

 attained nearly the size of the parents. 



It is questionable whether two broods are 

 reared in one season. [ have found fresh eggs 

 during the fust week of June, but from all data 

 at hand am inclined to believe that one brood a 

 season is t he rule. 



four eggs constitute the full set. though in 

 rare instances only three eggs are laid to the 

 set. They are very pretty little eggs, varying 

 in color from simple ovale to elliptical-ovate 

 .\m>\ elongate-ovate. Their ground is usually a 

 clear white, occasionally (in fresh eggs) of a 



