SYLVICOLID.E — THE WARBLERS. 275 



hijeiiiaUs) and the Chipping Sparrow. They breed in old brushy pastures, and 

 very early, nesting alongside of some little knoll, and, I think, always upon 

 the ground. The nest is very warmly lined with feathers." 



Mr. MacCulloch, in the paper already referred to, states that during their 

 autumnal migrations tliey seem invariably to exhibit the habits of true Syl- 

 vicolidce, gleaning among branches of trees for the smaller insects, and not 

 unfrequently visiting the windows of dwellings in search of spiders and 

 insects. 



In their migrations through Massachusetts these AVarblers are everywhere 

 quite abundant in the spring, but in their return in autumn are not observed 

 in the eastern part of the State, though very common in the western from 

 September into November, remaining long after all the other Warblers are 

 gone. None remain during the summer. 



In Western Maine, Mr. Verrill states, it is quite common both in spring 

 and in fall, arriving in April, earlier than any other AVarbler, and again 

 becoming abundant the last of September. 



I found it plentiful in the vicinity of Halifax, where it occurs throughout 

 the summer from May to September. 



Mr. Ridgway gives this species as perhaps the most numerous of the tran- 

 sient visitants, in spring and fall, in Southern Illinois. It is very terrestrial 

 in its liabits, keeping much on the ground, in orchards and open places, and 

 its movements are said to be wonderfully like those of Anthus luclovicianus. 



In the vibratory motions of its tail, especially when upon the ground, 

 these birds greatly resemble the W"'agtails of Europe. They have no other 

 song than a few simple and feeble notes, so thin and weak that they might 

 almost be mistaken for the sounds m.ade by the common grasshopper. 



The Iled-Poll usually selects for the site of its nest the edge of a swampy 

 thicket, more or less open, placing it invariably upon the ground. This is 

 usually not large, about three and a half inches in diameter and two and 

 a half in depth, the diameter and depth of tlie cavity each averaging ^nly 

 half an inch less. The walls are compactly and elaborately constructed 

 of an interweaving of various fine materials, chiefly fine dry grasses, slender 

 strips of bark, stems of tlie smaller plants, hypnum, and other mosses. 

 Within, the nest is warmly and softly lined with down and feathers. 



Mr. Kennicott met with a nest of this bird at Fort Resolution, June 18. 

 It was on the ground, on a hummock, at the foot of a small spruce, in a 

 swamp. When found, it contained five young birds. 



Their eggs are of a rounded-oval shape, and measure .70 of an inch in 

 length by .55 in breadth. Their ground-color is a yellowish or creamy- 

 white, and their blotches, chiefly about the larger end, are a blending of 

 purple, lilac, and reddish-brown. 



