Wilde on Parula Warbler. 5 



far as the state of New Jersey is concerned. Wherever there 

 is an abundant growth of Usnea barbata a colony of these 

 beautiful warblers will be found breeding, for, strange as it 

 may seem, they construct their nests in it, build their nests of 

 it, and they search in and around it for insects, on all the 

 trees, bushes, and vines, where it grows. 



Before proceeding further I wish to say a few things rela- 

 tive to this lichen (Usnea barbata). I shall hereafter call it 

 "Beard-Moss," only because that name has been associated in 

 my mind for so many years, in connection with Parula Warb- 

 lers. It therefore comes to me more naturally than any other 

 name possibly could. "Beard-Moss" must be seen to be ap- 

 preciated. 



It is a long, stringy, or hairlike-growth, grayish- 

 green in color, and when covered with dew or moistened by 

 the rain, it feels quite soft and is pleasant to the touch. In 

 the dampened condition it gives you the impression of elastici- 

 ty ; so much so that I have often tried to make it stretch, as it 

 should were it composed of rubber. It grows in a tangled mass 

 the lower strands only being combed out, as it were, and left 

 to float in the passing breeze. It grows on the tree limbs, and 

 is thick in proportion to the thickness of the limb from which 

 it hangs, excepting when it grows on vines or bushes where 

 the twigs are close together ; then the whole growth is a 

 solid mass of "Beard-Moss." In New Jersey it thrives best 

 on the lower limbs of the trees and on small bushes and vines 

 near the surface water of the swamps, streams, or mill ponds, 

 and in the lakes or ponds it mostly grows at the "head," or 

 upper ends, where the water, coming down, empties into these 

 bodies of water. 



Imagine being at the "head" of one of these ponds, where 

 all the trees and bushes are draped and festooned with this 

 beautiful growth, and here, on the warm summer days, you are 

 amid the Parula Warblers on their ideal breeding grounds. 



The growth of the "Beard-Moss" at Brown's Mills is very 

 scant as compared with the growth along the Maurice River 

 up to about Willow Grove pond, located in eastern Salem 

 county, and even here it is not nearly so abundant as in lower 

 Cumberland,' Atlantic, and Cape May counties. The farther 



