154 XESTS AND EGGS' OF BIIWS. 



ing northward to Lake Erie, eastward to the Connecticut valley, 

 and westward to the Indian territory, Wilson found it particu- 

 larly numerous in Kentucky and Tennessee, sitting in May ; and 

 Audubon considered it even more abundant in Louisiana where 

 it arrives in March. In northern Georgia, its eggs are laid during 

 the first week of May, and a few days later along the Ohio, but 

 not until June north of the Alleghanies ; bvo broods are reared in 

 many cases. 



The nest of the Kentucky warbler is usually placed on the 

 ground in the woods at the foot of a sapling or "in a thick tuft of 

 rank grass ;" but sometimes in a low bush or the brushy top of a 

 fallen tree. The materials are dead leaves, loose dry grass, the 

 light pith of weeds, the bark of dead plants, etc., etc., the interior 

 being composed mainly of fine black roots, with soft grass, cotton 

 and hair. Underneath and around it there is usually a large aggre- 

 gation of leaves. The whole affair, though beautiful, has little 

 coherence, and evidently is not constructed with a view to the 

 convenience of nest collectors ; nor is it easy to find, usually 

 being concealed beside a decaying log under a bunch of ferns, or 

 in some other dense corner. In rare cases, the nest is rudely 

 arched over with leaves and the heads of flowering grasses much 

 after the fashion of an oven-bird's. Naturally, so clumsy a struc- 

 ture would appear large for the size of the maker, but the cavity 

 is small. "Very little artistic skill was displayed in its construc- 

 tion," writes Henshaw, of one taken at Washington, D. C, "the 

 nest of the Maryland yellow-throat much surpassing it in work- 

 manship. 



The eggs are four to six in number, and average .72 by .58 

 of an inch in size. In shape they are pyriform ; in color glossy 

 white, finely sprinkled with dots of bright red over all the surface, 

 but most thickly around the large end ; and besides the reddish 

 specks, there are often other dottings of neutral tint, and a few 

 conspicuous touches of lavender. 



The young are said by Audubon to remain with their parents 

 until both depart for their winter home. 



