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JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



last. It is a veiy pleasing song to me, 

 and one that has brought a deep sense 

 of pleasure, on very many early morn- 

 ing, woodland strolls, that I have taken 

 in the woods, note-book in hand, in 

 search of bird-life. But the note-book 

 can but poorly record its beautiful song 

 that it pours forth to its Maker, and 

 that blends, so delightfully, with the 

 chorus of voices, and helps to make all 

 Nature so beautiful, on a bright Spring 

 morn, that one forgets the cares and 

 perplexities of the day, and soars into a 

 realm of ecstasy and delight, that brings 

 to the mind, more vividly than in any 

 other way, the goodness of the Maker of 

 all that is beautiful. Nor can it record 

 its many delicate movements and pretty 

 ways, as it searches hungrily for the 

 insect life on which it feeds. 



I did not succeed in finding its nest 

 until June 12, 1892, and I remember the 

 day as though it was but yesterday. I 

 was up with the sun in the morning and 

 down in its haunts, fully determined to 

 find the nest of Dendroica virens, as I 

 knew it must breed there. It was on a 

 slight side-hill where the heavy timber, 

 mostly hemlock, beech, birch and maple 

 had been cut off and had grown up to 

 bushes of maple, beech and blackberry 

 about as tall as my head, and very 

 thickly scattered with clumps of hemlock 

 bushes from five to twenty feet tall. 

 (A very uiuch favored breeding resort 

 of the Chestnut-sided Warbler, Redstart 

 and Indigo Bunting). I located a pair 

 of my birds and watched them intently, 

 as they fed leisurely from one clump of 

 trees to another, all the while trying to 

 give the appearance that they had no 

 thoughts of a nest anywhere around. 

 But as they hung around one large clump 

 of hemlocks, I decided the nest was in 



that clump or near by. The trees were 

 too tliick to see the nest, so I "•hung 

 around" that clump too. The birds 

 seemed rather nervous at my staying so 

 near it, and their usual drawly notes 

 were uttered in a nervous, rapid way, 

 that I have learned since, is conclusive 

 evidence that the nest is near. After 

 some time patientl}' waiting, (with a 

 swarm of mosquitoes making life miser- 

 able for me) they grew less concerned 

 at my close proximity and their song 

 was uttered at much longer intervals, 

 when suddenly the female flitted to the 

 top of the tallest hemlock in the clump, 

 and about one foot from the top was the 

 nest, neatly concealed among the thick 

 foliage and quite unnoticeal'le from 

 below. 



I well remember the joy that filled my 

 breast, as I gazed at the nest and real- 

 ized that, at last, I knew where Dend- 

 roica virens made its summer home. I 

 had to exercise great care in climbing 

 up to the nest, as the small hemlocks 

 were so slim and brittle, that 1 had to 

 gather several of them together to hold 

 my weight. A very pretty nest met my 

 gaze which the female reluctantlj' left as 

 I neared it. She did not scold as some 

 birds do, but left in silence, tho' both 

 birds stayed near by. flitting nervously 

 and giving vent to their call note, that 

 is much like the call note of several 

 other Warblers. The dainty cup-shaped 

 nest as it lays before me — (Yes, I took 

 the nest and five eggs that it contained, 

 but with great reluctance. Many peo- 

 ple say, "How could you take the poor 

 little birds' nest?" This is a difficult 

 question to answer those sympathetic 

 people satisfactorily. They ask this 

 and similar questions as tliough they 

 thouuht that the student of birds takes 



