I •J 8 KiRKWOOD, Cerulean Warbler in ^laryland. LApril 



woods clear of underbrush, and if this is so it would account for 

 the scarceness of the species. Between our orchard and the pike, 

 extending a considerable distance, is a strip of original growth 

 timber, about 150 feet wide, from which the underbrush has been 

 cleared, while across the pike is a large tract of woods. On the 

 other side of the orchard, about one eighth of a mile distant from 

 the strip mentioned, is another piece of woods from which the 

 hogs have cleared the underbrush. This also has considerable 

 woods in its original state, on one side. It is in these two pieces 

 of woods that the birds have summered. The trees are principally 

 chestnuts, with oaks, hickorys, tulip trees, etc. 



The following items are taken verbatim from my pocket note- 

 book and were made with the aid of a strong field-glass. Had the 

 birds been round previously I assuredly would have known it, but 

 my first note is as follows : 

 June 4, 1899. In gate woods, hear a strange warbler song but fail 



to see bird. 



June II. In company with Mr. F. A. Saunders, who is visiting 



me, the strange song of the 4th is identified as that of the 



Cerulean. We heard it in the woods west of the pike and in 



response to our ' squeaking ' the bird came within twenty-five 



feet of us, perching on a bare branch. We then kept quiet 



and it leisurely hunted the lower branches of the tree for about 



ten minutes, occasionally singing. Subsequently we heard 



the song of this species in three or four difterent parts of 



the woods, but whether the same individual or not we could 



not say. 



June 18. One singing in gate woods. It seemed to prefer the 



bare or dead twigs of the lower branches of the trees some 



twenty-five to forty feet up. During the forenoon it sang 



incessantly with its feathers fluffed out. From 4.20 p. M. 



to dusk heard it off and on. Once while it was singing some 



short distance off I was watching another sitting silent on a 



dead twig with its feathers fluffed out. 



During the forenoon in the gate woods a female Redstart was 



observed pulling material out of a nest saddled on a chestnut 



branch. Investigation showed a warbler's nest of some kind 



ready for eggs, but it was not a Redstart's, and no other bird was 



