34 JOURNAI. OP MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



often being found in rather open, mixed growth, flitting from tree 

 to tree, catching various insects on the wing in imitation of a Fly- 

 catcher. 



B}^ early June most of the individuals have passed beyond 

 southern Maine, while in the portions of the northern and western 

 counties within Canadian faunal limits nest building has commenced. 

 At this season the song of the male may be heard as it is uttered 

 from the 1)ranches of some rather low tree, and it consists of a rather 

 sweet succession of notes sounding like "pe-wee-wee-se-zewee," or 

 sometimes shortened into "swee-swee-swee." 



The nest is almost invariably placed in a low evergreen tree in 

 rather thick woods or heavy undergrowth. Four eggs taken at 

 Lincoln, June lo, iSg6, were in a nest composed of bark and fine 

 sedges, lined with fine vegetable fibres. It was placed in a low fir 

 tree about three inches from the ground in dense underbrush. The 

 exterior diameter of the nest is 4 inches and the interior diameter 

 25 inches. The exterior depth is 2^ inches and the interior depth i 

 inch. The eggs measure .65 x .50, .61 x .50, .60 x .51 and .65 x 

 .50 inches. The eggs are usually four in number, sometimes five, 

 and quite often only three. The ground color is grayish white, 

 somewhat coarsely spotted as well as finely dotted with olive-brown, 

 lilac and lavender. The markings are often most numerous at the 

 larger end, but are usually well scattered over the entire surface. 



When the vicinity of a nest containing eggs or young is 

 approached the parents manifest some anxiety, flitting from bush to 

 bush and uttering an alarm note much like that of the. Chipping 

 Sparrow. Penobscot, Piscataquis, Aroostook, Washington, Oxford 

 and the northern part of Somerset counties are the chief breeding 

 grounds of the species within Maine, and in some sections it may 

 locally be called common, though more often rather rare as a summer 

 resident. 



In August the southern migration begins and it is highly 

 probable that all have passed out of the State by the middle of 

 September at the very latest. Much, however, still remains to be 

 known about the habits of these birds. 



The food consists largely of insects, much of wdiich is caught on 

 the wing, while more or less is gleaned while the birds are flitting 

 about among the foliage. 



