20 



THE OSPREY. 



nothing- to the ornitholog-ical knowledg-e 

 of the state and the advanced readers of 

 The Osprey may demand something- 

 more in detail concerning- the birds men- 

 tioned so g-enerally. Our purpose, how- 



ever, is to acquaint Illinois naturalists 

 with a reg-ion forming- an ideal field for 

 the study of species not met with in 

 the dry prairie reg-ions of our g-reat 

 state. 



Nesting Habits of the Nashville Warbler, 



BY J. H. BOWLES, TACOINIA, WASH. 



MY acquaintance with Hclniintho- 

 p/iila nipcapilla has been by no 

 means very extensive and has 

 been wholly confined to Eastern Massa- 

 chusetts, where it is a reg-ular and not 

 uncommon spring- and autumn mig-rant, 

 only a few, however, remaining- to breed. 



consisting- of moss, dry leaves, g-rass and 

 pine-needles, and lined with pine-needles 

 and g-rass, instead of horse hair, which is 

 almost invariably used by Mniotilta. It 

 measures about 3.5 inches across by 2 

 inches deep, the interior dimensions 

 being- 2.vS inches in width by 1.25 inches 



EAST BANK ILLINOIS KIVEK, NEAK QUIVER LAKE. 



It seems to show a preference for rather 

 hig-h, dry g-round at no g-reat distance 

 from water, and where the trees are 

 moderately thick and not very tall, oak 

 woods seeming- to suit as well as another. 



It is one of our first warblers to com- 

 mence house-keeping-, often beg-inning- on 

 the nest Jpy the middle of May, and even 

 earlier, thoug-h occasionally delaying- 

 until late in the month. 



They are essentially g-round-building- 

 birds, placing- the nest on the ground 

 under a shrub or tree, much after the 

 fashion of that of the Black and White 

 Warbler {Mniotilta varia^ to which it 

 holds considerable resemblance. The 

 material, however, is somewhat different, 



in depth. The one in the illustration* 

 may be considered as fairl}- typical, being- 

 situated in a larg-e tract of twenty foot 

 scrub oak and at a long- distance from 

 any house, which I have always found to 

 be the case. Curiously enoug-h, this nest 

 was found by flushing- the bird while my 

 brother and self were preparing- to photo- 

 g-raph a nest of Ruffed Grouse {Boiiasa 

 7t})il)cl/iis) which was not twenty feet 

 distant. As was the case in another 

 specimen I examined, there is an arch 

 formed over the nest by the surrounding- 

 shrubs, making- it extremely difficult to 

 see. 



The eg-g-s are usually four in number, 

 thoug-h, as is more or less commonly the 



■"See Frontispiece. 



