THE BLACK-POLL WABBLEB. 13 1 



feathers and horse-hair." Mr. H. D. Minot has courteously given 

 me an extract from his journal, dated Bethlehem, N. H., July 12, 

 1873. 



To-day I found the nest of the Blackburnian warbler. ... I believe 

 it has never before been found in New England, if we except Dr. Brewer's 

 doubtful case. It was in a pine-tree about twenty feet from the ground, and 

 was composed of pine-needles, cottony substances, etc., and lined with hairs. 

 Unfortunately it contained young. . . . The pine in which it was placed 

 stood by itself in an open field, but near woodland. My second nest I found 

 in the West Roxbury district of Boston, Mass., on June 5, 1876. It was in a 

 hemlock bough, about twenty feet from the ground, and held three young and 

 one egg. The hemlock grove from which I got them is a unique place, very 

 distinct from the surrounding country, and recalling the White Mountains. 

 It is thick and cool, with an atmosphere of its own; it grows down a rocky 

 steep, and is bordered by what I may fairly call a mountain brook, so much is 

 it like those of New Hampshire. I do not wonder that the warblers were 

 tempted to make it a summer home. The egg is conical, measures about .65 

 by .50 of an inch, and resembles that of the chestnut-sided warbler. The 

 surface is crystal white, marked in a wreath around the larger end, with pur- 

 ple and reddish dots, sometimes one tint and sometimes the other predomi- 

 nating in the spots. 



Its habit of keeping quiet, and haunting the tops of the trees in 

 secluded forests, makes its home difficult to find ; and no doubt the 

 warbler breeds more commonly than is supposed. I just now hear, 

 for example, that on June 14, 1873, Mr. A. B. Covert took a nest- 

 ful of young birds of this species near Ann Arbor, Michigan. 



81. THE BLACK-POLL WARBLER. 



DENDRCECA STRIATA (ForsL) Baird. 

 Autumnal "Warbler (young). 



''In the extent of its migrations," writes Dr. Coues, "this species 

 is surpassed by none of its allies, and equalled by few, if any ; its 

 dispersion will prove more extensive than that of any other warbler, 

 should the D. atricapilla be found identical, as it probably will. 

 It is known to breed beyond the United States, from Labrador to 

 Fort Yukon, where its eggs were procured by Mr. Kennicott. The 

 southernmost breeding localities I have found quoted are the Um- 



