SYLVICOLID.E — THE WARBLERS. 251 



slender herbaceous roots, and finer sedges. The nests were strongly built, 

 compact and homogeneous, and were elaborately lined with fine panicles of 

 grasses and fine straw. In all the nests found, the number of eggs was five. 



It is a somewhat noticeable fact, that though this species is seen in ISTew 

 England only by the middle of May, others of its kind have long before 

 reached high Arctic localities, liichardson records its presence at the Cum- 

 berland House in May, and Engineer Cantonment by the 2(3th of April. Mr. 

 Lockhart procured a nest and five eggs at Eort Yukon, June 9. All the nests 

 taken in these localities were of smaller size, were built within two feet 

 of the ground, and all were much more warmly lined than were those from 

 Grand Menan. In a few instances Mr. McFarlane found the nests of this 

 species actually built upon the ground. This, however, is an abnormal posi- 

 tion, and only occasioned by the want of suitable situations in protected lo- 

 calities. In one instance a nest was taken on the first of June, containing 

 well-developed embryos. Yet this same species has frequently been observed 

 lingering in Massachusetts a week or more after others of its species have 

 already built their nests and begun hatching. 



The eggs of this species measure .72 by .50 of an inch. Their shape is an 

 oblong-oval. Their ground-color is a beautiful white, with a slight tinge of 

 pink, when fresh. They are blotched and dotted over the entire surface 

 with jirofuse markings of a subdued lavender, and deeper markings of a dark 

 purple intermixed with lighter spots of reddish-brown. The usual number 

 is five, though six are occasionally found in a nest. 



Dendroica castanea, Baird. 



BAY-BREASTED WARBLER. 



Sylvia castanea, WiLS. Am. Oiii. II, 1810, 97, pi. xiv, fig. 4. —Bon. ; Nutt. ; AuD. Orn. 

 Biog. I, pi. Ixix. Sijlvicola castanea. Swains. ; Jard. ; Rich. ; Bon. ; Aud. Birds 

 Am. II, pi. Ixxx. Rhimanphus castaneus. Cab. Dendroica castanea, Baird, Birds N. 

 Am. 1858, 276; Rev. 189. — Sclater& Salvin, Ibis, 1859, 11 (Guatemala). — Cassin, 

 Pr. A. N. Sc. 1860, 193 (Isthmus Darien ; winter). — Lawrence, Ann. N. Y. Lye. 1861, 

 322 (Isthmus Panama; winter). —Samuels, 228. Sylvia autumnalis, WiLS. Ill, pi. 

 xxiii, fig. 2. — Aud. Orn. Biog. I, pi. Ixxxviii. 



Sp. Char. Male. Crown dark reddish-chestnut; forehead and cheeks, including a 

 space above the eye, black; a patch of bufF-yellow behind the cheeks. Rest of upper 

 parts bluish-gray streaked with black, the edges of the interscapulars tinged with yellow- 

 ish, of the scapulars with olivaceous. Primaries and tail-feathers edged externally with 

 bluish-gray, the extreme outer ones with white ; the secondaries edged Avith olivaceous. 

 Two bands on the Aving and the edges of the tertials white. The under parts are whitish 

 with a tinge of buff; the chin, throat, forepart of breast, and the sides, chestnut-brown, 

 lighter than the crown. Two outer tail-feathers with a patch of white on the inner web 

 near the end ; the others edged internally with the same. Female with the upper parts 

 olive, streaked throughout with black, and an occasional tinge of chestnut on the crown. 

 Lower parts with traces of chestnut, but no stripes. Length of male, 5.00 ; wing, 3.05 ; 

 tail, 2.40. 



