98 NE S'lS A XI) E a G S OE BIRDS. 



the ground, llie materials of which the nest is constructed are 

 strips of inner hark of various trees, within which are matted 

 leaves, mosses, cotton fiom ferns, etc., etc., with a lining 

 of hairs. Some nests are arched over, much like an oven- 

 bird's (S/'/ir/ts aitricapillus^, which generally it greatlv resem- 

 bles in size and loose appearance. Mr. Augustus Fowler, at 

 Danvers, Mass.. found one placed in a tuft of moss, in a 

 moist, bushv pasture where it was nearly concealed in a cavity, 

 the moss ha\ing grown over it, till it was almost covered. 

 Undoubtedl\ the above-described method is the almost invari- 

 able practice of these creeping-warblers. Therefore, Audubon's 

 statement that in Louisiana the nest was built in holes in trees, 

 and composed of moss and other soft substances, has been dis- 

 credited ; but Dr. Coues is authority for the assertion that thev 

 have been known to breed so at Washington, D.C., and more 

 lately H. D. Minot asserts that he has found two nests so sit- 

 uated near Boston. 



" The eggs," says Dr. T. M. Brewer, "vary in shape from 

 a rounded to an oblong oval, and in size from .69 to .75 of an 

 inch in length, and from .51 to .53 of an inch in breadth. 

 Their ground-color is a creamy white, to which the deep red 

 markings impart an apparently pinkish tinge. They are 

 marked more or less profoundly with bright red dots, points 

 and blotches. These vary in number and in distribution. In 

 some they are very fine, and are chiefly confined to the larger 

 end. In others they are larger, more diffused, and occasionally 

 there are intermingled marks and blotches of slate-color. The 

 eftect of these variations is, at times, to give the appearance of 

 greater difterence to these eggs than really exists, the ground- 

 color and the shade of the red marking, really presenting but 

 little modification." I should call five eggs the usual comple- 

 ment ; and often two broods are reared during a single season. 



Mr. John Burroughs, in his inimitable language, has describ- 

 ed the behavior of these warblers when their home is invaded : 



A black-and-white creeping warbler suddenly became much alarmed 

 as I appi'oached a crumbling old stump, in a dense part of the forest. 

 He alighted upon it, chirped sharply, ran up and down the sides and 



