176 Contributions from the Charleston Museum. 



This latter nest was built five feet from the ground in an almost 

 impenetrable thicket of sweet briars (Rubus Rosa rubiginosa) and 

 blackberry brambles, which followed the edge of a road for at 

 least a mile. The nest is a fac-simile of Audubon's plate of the 

 nest of this species. It is constructed externally of cane leaves 

 and coarse grasses, and is lined with fine grass. The nest contained 

 five fresh eggs, spotted profusely with bright reddish brown and 

 pale lilac shell markings. Thej^ measured .90X.65. As far as 

 my experience goes, only one brood is raised, for this species ap- 

 parently disappears entirely before the end of August. 



During the breeding season the males commonly fly high into 

 the air and sing. With wings doubled back, they drop repeat- 

 edly downward a few feet at a time into the jungle. This aeria{ 

 song continues until the last few days in June, and, like the Mock- 

 ingbird, the Chat commonly sings at night. 



The Yellow-breasted Chat winters in Central America. 



■^277. Wilsonia citrina (Bodd.). Hooded Warbler. 



Of all the warblers that breed on or near the coast this beauti- 

 ful species is the most abundant. It arrives with the greatest 

 regularity in the spring — March 27, 1884, and March 23, 1890 

 being my earliest records, and by the 30th of the month it is al- 

 ways common. Although Audubon says* that "it arrives in 

 South Carolina in April, ' ' this statement is erroneous for it al- 

 ways arrives in March. On March 24, 1890, I observed numbers 

 of these birds near Yemassee. The Hooded Warbler is eminently a 

 swamp lover and inhabits the same character of swamp in the 

 breeding season as Swainson's Warbler. It prefers well-watered 

 swamps with large areas of cane and tangled thickets where the 

 sunlight seldom penetrates to the ground, even at noon. 



The nest is built in a cane or low bush and ranges from one to 

 five feet above the ground or the surface of water. It is firmly 

 attached to the canes or bushes with caterpillar silk, and is con- 

 structed of cane leaves and weeds, lined with fine grass, pine 

 needles, and the dead threads of the Spanish moss. The eggs are 

 three or four in number, and are white or pale creamy white, 

 speckled, spotted, and blotched with reddish brown and pale 

 lilac in the form of a wreath near the larger end. They measure 

 .70X.53. I have found full complements of eggs containing 



1 Birds of America, II, 13. 



