JOURNAI. OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 7 



summer resident (Morrell). Waldo ; common summer resident 

 (Knight). Washington; abundant summer resident (Boardman) . 

 York ; quite common summer resident (Adams) . 



The species in question is perhaps one of our commonest sum- 

 mer birds, being very generally distributed and common throughout 

 the State, though always lacking in the deep evergreen forest 

 portions. Neither is it characteristic of any particular faunal area, 

 being found nearly throughout temperate North America. In 

 southern Maine the date of arrival in the spring is somewhere about 

 May nth, sometimes even as early as May 5th, while in the north- 

 ern part of the State it may not arrive until May i8th. The fall 

 departure begins in late July, and by the last of August the majority 

 have departed, though exceptionally the species has remained near 

 Bangor until September loth. It is in full song very soon after its 

 arrival and the cheery "we-che, che, che, cheery we," or sometimes 

 "weeche, weeche, weeche, we-we," may be heard frequently in 

 the low shrubbery of garden and orchard. Another song is "sweet, 

 sweet, sweet, sweet, sweeter, sweeter." This song always brings to 

 my memory the alder fringed brooks where I coaxed the gamey trout 

 from his eddying pool, and it is only a question of time until the trout 

 fever arises to such a pitch as to require appropriate treatment. These 

 little Warblers prefer to frequent gardens and orchards in settled lo- 

 calities, returning season after season to the same place, while they 

 also may be commonly found among the alders of brook and river 

 sides. The male sings every minute or so during the day in early 

 summer and diligently assists the female in nest building, both by 

 actual construction work and well-timed song of encouragement. 

 Alders, bushy thickets, shrubbery^ in gardens, orchard trees, and 

 thickets along banks of streams and rivers are selected as nesting sites. 

 The nest is a very compactly built and well-cupped structure, com- 

 posed of fine soft grasses and rootlets, soft hempen fibers, cottony 

 down from the willow catkins, pieces of thread, twine, cloth, shreds 

 of paper, and similar soft material, lined with willow down and a few 

 feathers. A typical nest from which the foregoing description is 

 made measures two and a quarter inches in height outside, depth of 



