AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY 



169 



these birds the entire length of a piece of scrubby woodland, without 

 once catching sight of him although his voice always seemed to come 

 from the top of the next tree. 



Their nests are one of the most difficult to discover of all our War- 

 blers; they are very small, deeply imbedded in the short grass or moss of 

 a hillside and the adult birds exercise great care not to disclose its hid- 

 ing place. Although they breed quite common in Massachusetts I have 

 never found but one of their nests, and that was entirely accidental for 

 I was hurrying down hill, homewards, late one afternoon, when a small 

 bird left the ground, at my feet, and with a loud flutter sped away through 

 the trees. Several minutes search disclosed a handsome little cup 

 woven of grass, bark and rootlets, snugly tucked away in the moss at 

 the base of a rock. While I could not identify the bird by the hasty 

 glance that I had of her, the five eggs that were in the nest, I concluded 

 were those of this bird and the next day my suspicions were verified. 



