Vol 'l^i9 XVI ] Nichols, Warbler Problems. 227 



wood-chips, mosses, and a few twigs being used. The Magnolia 

 lines its nest with horse-hair if it can get it, this material being 

 present in Pennsylvania nests taken where it was obtainable, 

 but will use other hair or "moss-stems." One half or more of 

 Mr. Phillipp's nests are lined with horse-hair. The Magnolia's 

 nest is composed outside entirely or almost entirely of spruce 

 twigs or grass and is a ragged looking nest. The Baybreast builds 

 a ragged nest that looks like that of the Magnolia but is much 

 larger; for lining it uses fine roots or "moss-stems." The Cape 

 May's nest is thick-walled, rather flat, with fine sticks, a little grass 

 and characteristic dried green moss on the outside, feathers and 

 usually light colored hairs neatly molded down inside. A few 

 "moss-stems" are used in construction, and outside, here and there 

 are specks of very adhesive down. Mr. Philipp has seen a Cape 

 May gathering fur from a dead rabbit, and also apparently picking 

 hair out of a brush-pile. 



As regards other species, the Blackburnian builds a nest resem- 

 bling the Magnolia's but more compact and placed higher. The 

 nest of the Yellow Warbler is smooth, very pale, of plant-down 

 without, and fern-down within. The Yellow Palm Warbler's 

 nest, usually placed on the ground in moss at the foot of a small 

 spruce, is bulky, fairly thick-walled, of grass lined with fine root- 

 lets often combined with some porcupine and at times other hair, 

 and with usually only a few feathers. 



There is some variation in the typical location of the nests by 

 species, and in general the nest is very inconspicuous in its loca- 

 tion. The dried moss on the Cape May's nest may be especially 

 adapted to conceal it (from below) in the spruce tops from its 

 enemy, the Red-Squirrel. The Baybreasts' ragged nest, well out 

 on a low limb, is almost transparent. The pale Black-throated 

 Blue nest in New Brunswick spruces is placed close to the trunk 

 where it is well concealed; nesting in the rhododendrons in Penn- 

 sylvania, the Black-throated Blue nest is well concealed by the 

 glint of light on the rhododendron leaves. 



The nest of a bird is one of the most notable products of its 

 instinct. Obviously much precision is necessary in selecting the 

 appropriate materials and fitting them together, for the attain- 

 ment of a successful product. That to obtain the right materials 



