012 GROUND WARBLERS 



They build their nests in every avaihihle situation; sometimes, in a harheri'v hush in the 

 open field, on the Umb of an apple tree or among tlie ornamental slniibberv, l)eneath the 

 windows of the firndiouse. They are very unsuspicious, and a ])air constructed their 

 domicile last summer in a little plum tree which stands in the garden within five feet of 

 an arbor in which I kept two tame White Herons. These fine birds attracted many vis- 

 itors who constantly passed under tlie nest, which was only al)ont seven feet tVom the 

 ground, yet the female yellow bird would sit upon her eggs with the utmost composure 

 all the time, and succeeded in rearing a fine brood of young. These warl)lers breed du- 

 rina; the first week in June, and the song of the males is uttered constantly at this season. 

 It is loud, clear, and divided into two parts, the first of which consists of three or four 

 quick chirps ; the latter portion is more continuous, but is somewhat varied. The force 

 with which these notes are delivered causes the little performer's body to quiver all o\ei', 

 (pute to the end of the tail. While singing the head is raised, the binl ceases its search 

 for insects for a moment and gives its entire attention to the song, tlien will pursue its 

 avocations. Thus these little birds are constantly pouring forth their lays at intervids 

 through the day and continue to warble until late in the summer. They are not very 

 active in coniparisoii with other memljers of the family. We may expect to see tlie 

 Yellow Warl)lers about the first week in May ; they moult in August and depart tor the 

 South in early September. 



Back of the old fort at Miami was a piece of ground which had formerly been culti- 

 vated, but which at the time of our visit was grown up to weeils and bushes. These dense 

 thickets formeil an excellent collecting ground which we IVcfpiently visited in search of 

 warblers. Mr. Henshaw w;is passing through this pljice one day when he shot a Yellow 

 Warbler. The bird tell and lie ad\anced to ])ick it up, .Mnd was stooping to take it in his 

 hand when, being only winged, it Huttered into the bushes, thence into some thick weeds, 

 where it managed to conceal itself so successfully that its would-be captor fiiled to discov- 

 er it. This is the only instance of our finding this well known warbler in the state ; I am, 

 tlieref)re, obliged to introduce it into the fauna of Florida without having taicen a s|)eci- 

 nien. They doubtless occur rarely, however. I obtained a single specimen of typical D. 

 aestiva on the islands of Little (.'aynian, April 21st, 18S8 but this is the only one that I 

 evei' saw in the West Indies, but the closel\' allied D. petechia is common everywhere in 

 sps'ingand summer. 



GENUS. GEOTHLYPIS. THK GROUND WARBLERS. 



Gen. Ch. Bill, shorter than the head and rather stout. Wings, short. Feet, large. Tarsus, longer 

 than the hind toe and claw. Coracoid hones, slightly e.xceeding in length tlie top of tiie keel, which is low, 

 not heing higher than one-half the width of the sternum. Marginal indentations quite dee]). 



The sternum of this genus at once distinguishes it from all other members of the Sylvicolidae, inasmuch 

 as it is produced forward in a degree quite remarkable ; the coracoiil bones are longer ami proportionately 

 stouter than any other member of the familv. 



