Birds of Indiana. 1103 



Its habits combine those of the Flycatchers and the Warblers, and 

 the wingless insects upon the trees are in as much danger as are the 

 flies beneath the shade. Among other insects, they are known to prey 

 upon ichneumon flies, moths, caterpillars, beetles, leafhoppers (King, 

 Geol. of Wis., I., p. 510). 



Sometimes it arrives in spring by April 15; again it does not appear 

 before May 5, while, in the northern part of the State, it may be ten 

 days later than those dates. At Richmond it arrived April 15, 1897; 

 at Brookville, .April 20, 1896, May 5, 1893; Bloomington, April 21, 

 1885, May 12, 1886; Greensburg, April 29, 1897, May 8, 1893; Frank- 

 fort, April, 16, 1896, May 2, 1894, and 1895; Lafayette, April 39,1897, 

 May 8, 1893; Sedan, April 30, 1894, May 7, 1889; Petersburg, Mich., 

 April 24, 1897, May 14, 1893; Plymouth, Mich., April 30, 1896, May 

 6, 1894; Chicago, 111., May 2, 1896, May 17, 1897. The year 1896 they 

 arrived unusually early. In 1893 their movements were early in the 

 southern part of the State, and very late northward. The year 1895 

 was medium early. I have seen them begin to pair by May 4 (1882), 

 and May 15, of the same year, I found a nest. Prof. EVermann notes 

 a nest and eggs from Carroll County, June 13, 1883, and Messrs. L. 

 A. and C- D. Test found a nest and four eggs in an elder bush, 6 feet 

 up, at Lafayette, June 15, 1892. The nests usually are placed from 

 ten to thirty feet high in the fork of a limb. In the northwestern part 

 of the State they are very numerous and may be found breeding in 

 almost every patch of oak timber of any size. 



Although so numerous as to be a nuisance to the collector, so often 

 are they in front of his gun when it is discharged during the Warbler 

 season, it is a source of pleasure to him who likes to study their busy 

 life; they 'are unknown to the average person, as are the inhabitants of 

 the planet Mars, for to him has not been given the power of seeing. 

 But some years even the initiated notice their absence, for their num- 

 bers, for some reason, are very- few. In 1886 Prof. W. S. Blatchley 

 noted their extreme scarcity at Bloomington. The spring of 1894 

 they were very rare. None were found that year at Lafayette (Test); 

 they were unusually scarce at Sedan (Mrs. Hine); but one was seen 

 at Greensburg (Shannon); and but two were reported from Bicknell 

 (Chansler). In August they begin to move. Their numbers are in- 

 creased by those from the north, and through September they are 

 found, with other migrants, making their journey southward — a time 

 of feasting and good-fellowship. The first heavy frosts bid them de- 

 part, and they are gone. The latest records I have are: Greensburg, 

 September 16, 1894; Bicknell, September 4, 1895; Lafayette, October 

 3, 1896; Sedan, October 11, 1889; Chicago, 111., October 1, 1895. 



