THE OOLOGIST. 



35 



pi ece of old mosq uito netftng ; outside 

 diameter, Si'inches; inside, 4f inches; 

 outside depth, 3f inches; inside, 2 in- 

 ches. 



I took the nest and placed it in a box 

 where in due time the moth was hatch- 

 ed, and I have it preserved with the 

 nest and eggs 



June 5th, is my earliest date for a full 

 fresh set; my latest is dated August 

 20th; positively not over three and one- 

 half days were occupied from the time 

 this nest was started until the first egg 

 was laid. 



Pardon me, dear readers, for all the 

 above on a species so common. Per- 

 haps, though, my observations have dif- 

 fered somewhat from yours. Possibly 

 some young observer has been inter- 

 ested and benefitted. 



And now for my principal object in 

 writing this article. I will take it for 

 granted that you are acquainted with 

 the food habits of A. cedrorum and 

 therefore know that insects form no 

 small portion of its diet. 



You may have been an observer of 

 their flycatching habits, and as the days 

 close, have seen them getting on the 

 trees or bushes along some stream, dart- 

 ing out after insects in much the same 

 manner as the Kingbird, Phoebe and 

 other flycatchers. Or perhaps you have 

 seen a flock perched high on some tree 

 top, enjoying the bright morning sun- 

 shine, and making circlets after passing 

 insects. I have often seen them take 

 quite long and vigorous flights when 

 practicing their habits, but never until 

 the season of 1891 had I seem them fly- 

 ing around over the creeks and ponds 

 as the Swallows do, catching insects on 

 the wing. It was on August 18th that 

 I first noted this habit. I was standing 

 near the river; a Waxwing flew past, 

 and darting upward from its course, 

 caught an insect; watching it a few min- 

 utes, 1 was surprised to find that it was 

 making a business of catching insects, 

 and was on the wing for that purpose, 

 and that just ahead was another, en- 

 gaged in the same occupation I watch- 

 ed them as they flew up and down the 

 stream and around over the mill pond, 



darting right and left, now upward, 

 now downward, occasionally hovering 

 a moment to catch an insect they had 

 missed, sometimes scarcely clearing the 

 surface of the water 



Two days later I saw half a dozen 

 gleaning their evening meal in the same 

 manner; later in the season and also 

 during 1894. I have added so many re 

 cords of the habit, that I regard it as 

 common. I have failed though to find 

 mention made of this habit in any work 

 or publication to which I hnve access. 

 Have the readers of The Oologist ob- 

 served this habit as common with the 

 Cedar Waxwing? 



Benjamin Hoag, 

 Stephentown, N. Y. 



The Worm-eating Warbler. 



{Halmitherus vermivosus.) 



I had always supposed that this War- 

 bler did not breed in this state, for it is 

 not often seen here even in the early 

 spring. But a few seasons since on the 

 25th of May, a bright warm day, a friend 

 and myself went out hunting for birds 

 and their nests. As we reached a dense 

 part of the wood and on a hill that 

 sloped gently to a small ripling brook, 

 a bird started up from nearly under our 

 feet and flew to a tree near by, then 

 commenced making a great adieu over 

 us. We were almost afraid to move 

 for fear we would step on the nest, 

 after a short search we discovered the 

 little mansion, which was placed under 

 a may apple, in a slight depression of 

 the ground. 



We at once recognized the bird to be 

 a Worm-eating Warbler. The nest was 

 composed outwardly of leaves and lin- 

 ed with tine moss, hair and tine rootlets. 

 It contained five fresh eggs, of a cream- 

 white color, with spots of reddish- 

 brown and lavender over the entire 

 surface of the egg, but thickest at the 

 larger end, one of the eggs has much 

 finer spots than the others. 



The measurements are as follows: 

 .68x56, .69X.50, .70x.57, .74x.56, .75x.50. 

 My friend who has been a close obser- 

 ver of the birds of Henry county, la. 

 for the last thirty years says, he had 

 never seen or heard of a nest of this 

 Warbler being found in this part of 

 Iowa before. If any one else knows of 

 instances of its breeding in Iowa, I 

 would be pleased to hear from them. 

 D. L. Savage, 

 Salem, Iowa. 



