IQQ NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



According to Mr. Audubon its song consists of a few weak notes that are 

 by no means interesting. His description of its nest agrees with that of 

 Wilson. He states that it usually has two broods in the season, one in May, 

 the other in July. The young disperse as soon as they are able to provide for 

 themselves. 



He describes them as of solitary habits, and adds that they leave Louisi- 

 ana for the South early in October. Its flight is short, undetermined, and 

 performed in zigzag lines. It will ascend twenty or thirty yards in the 

 air as if about to go to a greater distance, when, suddenly turning round, it 

 will descend to the place from which it set out. It rarely pursues insects 

 on the wing, feeding chiefly on the smaller kind of spiders, and seizing other 

 insects as they come within its reach. 



Tlie above accounts of its breeding, and especially of its nest, do not cor- 

 respond with the observations of Mr. Eidgway, near Mt. Carmel, III, where 

 the bird is abundant. A nest collected by him is a very loose open struc- 

 ture, composed chiefly of broad, thin, and flexible strips of the inner bark 

 of deciduous trees, chiefly the bass-wood. It contained five eggs, and was 

 obtained May 8. It was first discovered by noticing the bird with mate- 

 rials in her bill. The situation of this nest " was in no wise," says Mr. Ridg- 

 way, " as described by Wilson, not having any covered entrance." The nest 

 was very bulky, and so loosely made that only the inner portion could be 

 secured. " I have found other nests," adds Mr. Eidgway, " all correspond-, 

 ing with tliis one. There can be no doubt as to its identity, as the birds 

 were seen building the nest, and were closely watched in tlieir movements. 

 Both male and female were seen several times." (No. 10,140, Smith. CoU.) 



The eggs of this species measure .70 of an inch in length by ,53 in breadth. 

 Tlieir ground-color is white, sprinkled with a few reddish-brown spots. 



Helminthopliaga ruflcapilla, Baikd. 



NASHVILLE WARBLER. 



Sylvia ruficapilla, WiLS. Am. Oin. Ill, 1811, 120, pi. xx\di, fig. 3. — AuD. Orn. Biog. I, 

 1832, 450, pi. Ixxxix. Helminthophaga rufica]nlla, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 256 ; 

 Rev. 175.— ScLATEii, P. Z. S. 1859, 373 (Xalapa).— Dresser, Ibis, 65, 477 (Texas). — 

 Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 82. Sylvia ritbricapilla, Wils. Am. Orn. VI, 1812, 15, 

 General Index. —Nutt., Bon. Sylvicola rub. Rich. Vermivora rub. Bon — Rein- 

 HARDT, Vid. Med. for 1853, 1854, 82 (Greenland). — Brewer, Pr. Bost. Soc. N. H. 

 VI, 1856, 4 (nest and eggs). Helinaia rub. Aud. Birds Am. II, pi. cxiii. Hehnithcrus 

 rub. Bon. — SCL. P. Z. S. 1856, 291 (Cordova) ; 1859, 363 (Xalapa). ffelmmthophaga 

 rub. Cab. — Sclater, P. Z. S. 1858, 298 (Oaxaca ; Feb. and Aug.). MniotiUa rub. 

 Reinhardt, Ibis, 1861, 6 (Greenland). Sylvia leucogastra, Shaw, Gen. Zool. X, ii, 

 1817, 622. " Sylvia ^lashvillei," YirnhLor. —Gu AY. Sylvict mexicana, Holboll. 



8p. Char. Head and neck above and on sides ash-gray, the crown with a patch of 

 concealed dark brownish-orange hidden by ashy tips to the feathers. Upper parts olive- 

 green, brightest on the rump. Under parts generally, with the edge of the wing, deep 



