Yellow Warbler. 199 



dark or black wings and tail as the malo of tbo species, 

 and her under parts are much the color of the upper parts 

 of the male yellow warbler. 



Before the pink and white petals of the apple blossoms 

 have faded and fallen, the yellow warbler has begun the 

 pleasant task of constructing its cozy habitation. The 

 shade trees along the highways furnish it nesting places 

 in the upright twigs of large branches, and most of the 

 nests of the species are thus placed. Fruit trees in gar- 

 dens and orchards, and bushes, shrubbery, and woodlands, 

 furnish attractive sites for its home. In river bottoms it 

 is fond of nesting in the willows so abundant in swampy 

 regions, and the catkins of these trees largely predomi- 

 nate in the materials used in the structure when it nests 

 in such, localities. The species is locally known as the 

 willow warbler and willow wren, because it is so often 

 found nesting in those trees. The younger elms in towns 

 and cities furnish it more favorable sites than elsewhere. 

 A favorite nesting site in this locality is found in untrim- 

 med hedges of two or three years' growth, the nest being 

 generally placed in an upright fork on an obliquely 

 ascending branch near the top. The young trees of new 

 orchards are favored situations, the numerous twigs aiding 

 to support the dainty structures. 



Once 1 found a nest placed on a horizontal branch of a 

 small elm along the sidewalk in the little city where I then 

 lived, the site being on one of the lowest limbs which 

 projected over the walk, thus locating the nest within six 

 feet of the heads of the passers-by. It is probable that 

 the pair had constructed this nest unobserved, for the tree 

 was on a corner where small boys in the neighborhood 

 congregated regularly, and it formed a sort of trysting 

 place from its location. When I observed the nest for 

 the first time, I was standing under the tree, and the 

 female was sitting jauntily and fearlessly in her snug 

 home, regardless of our movements and conversation. 

 Her confidence was ruthlessly betrayed, however, for 

 when I passed the spot some days later the nest was gone. 

 It had probably been made the prize of some keen-eyed 

 small boy, for few of them can resist the desire to carry 



