50 WORM-EATING WARBLER 



F. L. Burns*' reports it as common, but extremely local, at 

 Berwyn, Pa., where it inhabits the wooded hill-slopes. "I do not 

 remember," he says, "having ever met with it in the open, or in small 

 groves of the bottom lands. It is at home in the second growth timber 

 of the hills, and is very deliberate in its movements, seeming" never 

 in a hurry and yet never idle. Stepping out with dainty tread and 

 bobbing head, it is a really graceful little walker on ground or tree. 



"The bird exhibits a remarkable love for its chosen nesting haunts, 

 building the second and third nest within a radius of a few hundred 

 feet when disturbed, and returning year after year to the same place 

 if successful in raising a brood. I have not observed a single pair 

 building on the exact site of former years, but on several occasions 

 within a few feet of it. While the female takes the leading part, the 

 male is always present and seems busy, a by no means silent partner 

 in the selection of site and construction of nest. * * * 



"Incubation does not always commence immediately after com- 

 pletion of set, particularly if the season be young. It is probable that 

 the second night witnesses the beginning of that period and, as far 

 as my experience goes, I believe it is performed by the female alone. 

 The male feeds her when covering newly hatched young. The home- 

 coming of a brooding bird, after a brief airing and feeding, is 

 heralded several hundred yards distant by frequent chips and short 

 flights from branch to branch near the ground, in leisurely fashion 

 and circuitous route, until at length, arriving above the nest, she runs 

 down a sapling and is silent. The bird is a close sitter and if 

 approached from the open front will often allow a few minutes' silent 

 inspection, eye to eye, at arm's length, sometimes not vacating until 

 touched, then she runs off in a sinuous trail, not always feigning 

 lameness before the young are out. When disturbed with young in 

 the nest she flutters ofif with open wings and tail, and failing to lead 

 one off, will return with her mate, who is seldom far off at this 

 period, circling about the nest or intruder, and, if the young are well 

 feathered, she will dash at them, forcing them from the nest and to 

 shelter. Once this brave little bird dashed at me and ran up to my 

 knee, scratching with her sharp little claws at every step. On the 

 return the birds always make the vicinity ring with their protests — 

 a quickly repeated chip. The period of incubation in one instance 

 was thirteen days." 



William Brewster presents this picture of the bird in its haunts 

 in West Virginia, where, he says, the bird is "most partial to the 



