BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 875 



deal less time than it takes to write one of these lines, the 

 beautiful, delightful warble lay at my feet. I hear that it has 

 been seen late in August by those who sought to know the bird 

 thoroughly. Mr. Grant did not meet with it at Vermilion lake, 

 but Mr. Lewis did, under circumstances which justify the pre- 

 sumption that it breeds there in company with so many of the 

 warblers. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 



Above olive green, rather brighter on the rump; beneath 

 entirely greenish yellow, except a little whitish about the vent; 

 the sides tinged with olivaceous; a concealed patch of brown- 

 ish-orange on the crown, hidden by the olivaceous tips to the 

 feathers; eyelids and an obscure superciliary line, yellowish, 

 and a dusky, obscure streak, through the eye. 



Length, 4.70; wing, 2.25; tail, 2. 



Habitat, eastern Nprth America. 



HELWINTHOPHILA PEREGRINA (Wilson). (647.) 

 TENNESSEE WARBLER. 



Abundant in the season of its migration, the Tennessee 

 Warbler is a fairly represented summer resident, arriving 

 from the 5th to the 10th of May, and remaining until about the 

 second week in September. They build their nests in, or in 

 the vicinity of forests, on the ground, well concealed by brush 

 and dead leaves. It is composed entirely of fibrous strips of 

 bark outwardly, and of fine grasses interiorly. Five eggs, 

 more or less speckled with brown, especially about the larger 

 end, were found in a nest at Lake Minnetonka, June 5th, 1881. 

 They are a very nervous, active and energetic species, exceed- 

 ingly difficult to follow with the best eyes or a field-glass, flit- 

 ting constantly to and fro through the boughs in searching for 

 their food, keeping up a short chirp. 



This has been accounted a somewhat northerly species, and 

 not without reason on account of the disproportionate number 

 seen during their migration, but I am satisfied it should not be 

 specialized as such. In the fall, and after the earlier frosts, it 

 is not a very uncommon thing to meet scattering parties of 

 them mingled with other species, making their way towards 

 the south. It is not abundant for its species, except during 

 migration when few other of the warblers are more so. At 

 St. Vincent, Mr. Washburn recorded it in the latter part of 

 July, 1885, as very frequently seen "in scrub willows and trees 

 bordering the Red river. " I get similar records from different 

 35 z 



