102 AVORW'EATING WARBLER. 



sontown, Pennsylvania. They spend a greater portion of their 

 time on the ground or feeding among low shrubbery near it. 

 They are very agile birds, securing the insects which they are 

 pursuing with the greatest ease. Those which I have seen in 

 winter in Florida, Bahamas and in the West Indies appeared 

 to feed near the ground, only occasionally venturing among 

 the branches of the trees. 



Breedixg Habits. The W'oim-eating Warblers were 

 breeding in WHiite Deer Valley late in May, 1876. I found 

 several nests, all placed on the ground, on theslope of the hills 

 but never far up from the bottom of the valley; they were in 

 open sight, being placed among the fallen leaves of the previ- 



FiG, 45, 



Wini' of yo'.iu ' Worm-eatiii'' Warbler. 



ous year, without any attempt at conceahnent. The eggs 

 were all deposited by the last week in May, and in a few cases 

 I found the young well grown by June 7. Ihe young appear 

 to acquire their wing feathers more quickly than do most war- 

 blers. This precocity is probably directly connected with the 

 ground nesting habit, for the young of the Black and White 

 Warbler and of the Golden-wing fly early. The young are 

 in greater danger when on the ground than among the foliage, 

 hence, through the survival of the earliest flyers, the species ac- 

 quire the power of flight sooner than shrub or tree nesting 

 warblers. At Fig. 44 is given a cut of the young of the 

 Worm-eating Warbler and at Fig. 45, of its outstretched wing, 

 showing the development of the quills. 



