ORNITHOLOGIST 



— A^D — 



OOLOGIST. 



PUBLISHED BY THE FRANK BLAKE WEBSTER COMPANY. 



ESTABLISHED MARCH, 1875. 



$1.00 per 

 Annum. 



Single Copy 

 10 cents. 



Vol. XVII. HYDE PARK, MASS., SEPTEMBER, 1892. 



No. 9. 



Nesting of the Black-throated Blue 

 Warbler in Buncombe Co., N.C. 



Altitude regardless of latitude seems to 

 fill all the requirements of this species 

 as far as their nesting site is concerned. 

 Although many believe the Black-throate(] 

 Blue Warbler to be strictly a northern 

 breeder, we found them breeding spar- 

 ingly in the Craggy mountains at eleva- 

 tions ranging from 4000 to 6000 feet. 

 Their favorite abodes are among the rank 

 weeds and ferns which spring up between 

 the rocks and fallen trees in the more 

 heavily timbered ravines, and almost in- 

 variably these localities are known to the 

 natives as rattle-snake dens. Mr. John 

 S. Cairns has collected a number of their 

 skins in seasons past, and was satisfied 

 from their presence during their breeding 

 season that thev bred in the Craggies. 

 While collecting with him from May 5 

 until May 36, we together worked pretty 

 thoroughly a spur of these mountains run- 

 ning probably seven or eight miles, and 

 succeeded in taking eight nests with eggs, 

 four sets containing four eggs each and 

 four containing three each. I will say here 

 that the word '•'■zvorked" is hardly strong 

 enough to describe a collector's labor in 

 these mountains, for he finds no prairie 

 where he may get his "second-wind." 



These birds do not necessarily build on 

 swampy or low ground, as we found nests 

 ranging from two feet to five hundred 

 yards from water. Occasionally a nest will 

 be placed in rhododendron shoots and 



laurels, but apparently they prefer a weed 

 known here as the rattle-weed, an annual 

 that shoots four branches from the stalk ; 

 the leaves are trifid and lanceolate, but 

 they do not flower this early and the 

 material preserved will not identify them. 

 Ridg-dcay' s ^lauiial says " nest on high 

 trees 20-50 feet or more from the ground," 

 but we found none higher than three feet 

 and one only ten inches from the ground. 

 Judging from timber and suitable shelter 

 here offered, I do not believe they ever 

 breed in the higher trees. 



Their nests show little variation in their 

 construction, and a description of one will 

 be representative. Exteriorly it is com- 

 posed of strips of bark of rhododendron 

 or grape-vine interwoven with pieces of 

 birch bark, moss and spiders webs, lined 

 with the fibrous part of Tillafidsia ?is- 

 noides^ lo"g moss, the same as is used by 

 upholsterers. This long moss is probably 

 the same material described by Rev. C. 

 M. Jones and others as fine black roots 

 and hair, as the fibre very closely resem- 

 bles curled hair or rootlets. 



Their eggs in coloration and shape are 

 as variable as those of any of the Warblers. 

 Some are well rounded, one specimen 

 measuring .61 x .52, while some are quite 

 elongate, one measuring ,(i^yi .49. Ground 

 color, greenish-white, and buffy-white. 

 Some are heavily blotched with reddish- 

 brown and lilac-gray in a wreath around 

 the larger end, while others are marked 

 over their entire surface with madder- 

 brown and lilac-gray. 



Copyright, 1892, by Frank Blake Webster Company. 



