THE AUDUBON WARBLER. 18 
on 
When the nest was presumed to be ripe, I ascended. It was found settled 
into the foliage and steadied by diverging twigs at a point some six or seven 
feet out along the limb. None of the branches in the vicinity were individually 
safe, but by dint of standing on one, sitting on another, and clinging to a third, 
I made an equitable distribution of avoirdupois and grasped the treasure. 
Perhaps in justice the supporting branches should have broken just here, but 
how could you enjoy the rare beauty of this handsome structure unless we 
brought it to you? 
The nest is deeply 
cup-shaped, with a | | 
brim slightly turned | 
in, composed exter- 
nally of fir twigs, 
weed - tops, flower- 
pedicels, rootlets, cat- 
kins, etc., while the 
interior is heavily 
lined with feathers 
which in turn are 
bound and held in 
place by an inner- 
most lining of horse- 
hairs. One feather 
was left to curl dain- 
tily over the edge, 
and so partially con- 
ceal the eggs,—four 
spotted beauties. alld sae oye He “i Z 3] 
These Warblers Taken in Tacoma. Photo by the Author. 
are connoisseurs 1 NEST AND EGGS OF AUDUBON WARBLER. 
feathers, and if one 
had all their nests submitted to him, he could make a rough assignment of 
locality for each according to whether feathers of Oregon Ruffed Grouse, 
Franklin Grouse, Ptarmigan, or domestic fowls were used. 
In the wet region the birds appear to nest in fir trees only, and they are 
as likely to use the lowermost limb as any. There is little attempt at conceal- 
ment, and Bowles reports a nest only ten feet high over a path used daily by 
hundreds of people in Tacoma. On the dry side of the mountains the Warblers 
avail themselves freely of deciduous trees and bushes for nesting sites. A nest 
on Cannon Hill in Spokane was placed at the lowermost available crotch of a 
young elm tree near the sidewalk and not ten feet up—as bold as a Robin! 
