SYLVICOLID^ — THE WARBLERS. 239 



account of its habit of keeping concealed among the dense foliage. ]\Ir. 

 Boardnian gives the same account of its residence in summer in the neigh- 

 borhood of Calais. 



Mr. Audubon did not regard this bird and his " Hemlock Warbler " as the 

 same species, but gave distinct and different accounts of their habits. We 

 have therefore to receive with caution these records of peculiarities. He 

 found the Blackburnian Warbler breeding in Northeastern Maine, in New 

 Ih-unswick, in the Magdaleine Islands, and in Labrador and Newfoundland. 

 He states, correctly, that it has a very sweet song of five or six notes, much 

 louder than seemed possible from the size of the bird. It pursues its 

 insect prey among the branches of the fir-trees, moving along after the man- 

 ner of the common Eedstart. 



Mr. McCuUoch, of Halifax, gave Mr. Audubon a nest of this bird with 

 three eggs. The nest was formed externally of different textures, lined 

 Avith fine delicate strips of bark and a tliick bed of feathers and liorse-hair. 

 The eggs were small, conical, with a white ground spotted with light red 

 at the larger end. Tlie nest was in the small fork of a tree five feet from 

 the ground, and near a brook. 



The nest obtained in Eoxbury was in a bush, a few feet from the ground, 

 in a very wild region of forest and rocks. Externally, except in its length, 

 which was less, it resembled a nest of the G. triclias, being made of coarse, 

 dry grasses. Internally it was much more warmly lined with feathers and 

 soft fur than is the case in nests of the Yellow-Throat. The eggs were of 

 a crystal whiteness, marked at their larger end with dark purple, and but 

 for their smaller size might have been mistaken for those of G. triclias. 

 The position of the nest, however, was conclusive in regard to this point. 

 The egg from Coventry was substantially similar, except that reddish-brown 

 dots were mingled with the purple markings, in the form of a wreath around 

 the larger end. 



Wilson describes this Warbler as songless, but attributes to its counter- 

 part, the Hemlock Warbler, a very sweet song of a few low notes, — a very 

 different account from that given by Audubon of the song of the Black- 

 burnian. 



jNIr. Paine states that this species is resident during tlie summer months in 

 Randolph, Vt. It is, he says, a very close companion of the D. vircns, arriv- 

 ing at the same time M-ith it even to a day, or about the 10th of ]\Iay. Its 

 dry chirping song may then be heard in striking contrast with the sweet 

 notes of the virens. He was not able to find its nest. 



Mr. C. W. Wyatt met with this species as a winter resident at Alto, in Co- 

 lombia, South America. Its upward range seemed to be terminated only by 

 tlie paramos. Among the oaks on the Pamplona road he found it very com- 

 mon just under the paramo, the bright orange throat of the male making it 

 a very conspicuous bird. He was led to believe that they were not found 

 there at a, lower elevation than five tliousand feet. 



