20 AMERICAN WARBLERS. 



Xests AM) Eocis. Xests usually placed in bushes in evergreen 

 woods, composed of strips of bark, grasses and roots, lined with fine rootlets 

 and hair. Eggs, four to five in number, oval in form, buff"y white in color, 

 spotted and blotched with brown and blue of varying shades. Dimensions, .61 

 by .47 to .65 by ..JO. 



General Habits. Durino^ mioration through Mass- 

 achusetts, the Black-throated Blue Warbler occurs in almost 

 all kinds of woodlands, but with a preference for swampy 

 thickets. When here it also keeps near the ground. 

 W hen in Northern New England in its summer home, it 

 keeps well up in the tops of the evergreen trees. 



In winter and in spring when in the Bahamas, it fre- 

 quents low shrubbery and is often seen feeding on the 

 ground, and this is somewhat true of the females in Massa- 

 chusetts. 



Breeding Habits. In Northern New England 

 where a greater portion of the species find a summer home, 

 the nest is always placed in a low evergreen in open ever- 

 green woods, but when it breeds in the mountains of Vir- 

 ginia and North Carolina as it does sparingly, it usually 

 chooses a laurel in which to place its nest. 



Song. Looking through my note book I find that way 

 back in the early seventies, I found that there was a resem- 

 blance in the song of the Black-throated Blue Warbler to 

 that of the Golden-winged Warbler Now I know that it 

 is the tone that is similar; the notes are different. Thev are 

 not quite as lisping nor as hurriedly given as are those of the 

 Golden- wino-. 



The lay, must, however, be classed among the quaint 

 warbler songs, but is characteristic enough to be recogniz- 

 able w^hen once heard. The syllables sometimes used to ex- 

 press this song are, "zwee-zwee-zwee," or "che-wee che-wee- 

 wee-see zwee." 



Migration and Breeding Range. Breeds commonlv 

 in Northern New England and in Berkshire County, Massa- 

 chusetts. Rather sparingly and locally in Northern Con- 



