1885.] Chamberlain on the Cafe May Warbler. 7. C 



foliage, by which it was well screened from observation. It was 

 fastened to two of the tiny branchlets — pendent from one and rest- 

 ing upon the other — and secured to each by strawberry vines and 

 spider silk. 



On June 10 Mr. Banks was sauntering past the cedar and 

 quite accidentally brushed the branches aside, disclosing an in- 

 complete nest, and he observed on a bush near by a bird whose 

 appearance was unfamiliar, apparently not much disturbed, but 

 evidently interested in Bank's presence. At that time the day- 

 light was too far gone to admit of any accurate account being 

 taken of the form or color of the bird, but sufficient was noted 

 to identify it afterwards as a female Cape May Warbler. And 

 here I may add that though the nest was frequently visited during 

 the following week, the male was not seen, nor was the song 

 heard. 



On June 13 the nest was completed and two eggs were laid. 

 During this visit the female was near at hand, and when Banks 

 and a comrade withdrew to the shade of an adjoining tree she 

 followed them and gave ample opportunity for a close and sat- 

 isfactory examination — coming within a couple of yards and 

 coolly pluming the feathers of wings and tail, all the time keeping 

 her eye upon the intruders, but exhibiting no alarm nor uttering 

 a single note. 



On June 16 the hen was discovered on the nest and was driven 

 off. She did not fly more than a few yards, and then perching 

 on a bush plumed her feathers while watching her disturbers, 

 occasionally uttering a faint chirping note. This note did not 

 seem like a call, nor an alarm ; nor did the bird appear at all ex- 

 cited. 



To insure the identification being perfect the bird was secured 

 before the nest was taken. This structure and the completed 

 clutch of four eggs are before me as I write. The walls of the 

 nest are composed of minute twigs of dried spruce, grasses, and 

 strawberry vines, with spider's webbing interwoven with the 

 coarser fabrics and knotted into numerous little balls, which are 

 bound upon the surface as if for ornament. The exterior is rather 

 roughly made, but is more compact, and bears evidence of more 

 art than is shown in the nest of the Magnolia Warbler, which it 

 somewhat resembles. The interior, however, is much more neat- 

 ly and artistically formed in the Cape May's than in its congener's. 



