^*''' iga^"^^] BowDisH and Philipp, Tennessee Warbler. 3 



ing from the front rim, as noted in description of first nest below. 

 It is lined, usually, with fine dry grass, to which in some instances 

 the quill-like hairs of the porcupine, or white moose hairs, are 

 added, and more rarely still, fine hair-like roots which were not 

 identified. The females, so far as observed, do all the incubating 

 and sit very closely, — so closely, in fact, that one was caught alive 

 on the nest, where the exact situation had been previously marked. 

 The nest is so carefully concealed that even when the bird is 

 flushed it is sometimes very difficult to find it, so deeply is it buried 

 in the moss. 



This species seems to be somewhat gregarious. In 1914, in 

 one small clearing, five males were heard singing at the same time. 

 In 1915, in the same clearing, three males were heard singing at 

 once, and two nests were found. In almost every clearing of suit- 

 able size at least two pairs of birds were found, the nests being 

 sometimes located rather close together. The females, when once 

 flushed off the nest, are very shy about returning while the observer 

 is about, but one can easily tell whether a flushed female has a 

 nest in the immediate neighborhood by the utterance of a sharp 

 "chip," which is nervously given, the bird flitting constantly about 

 from twig to twig, a habit which makes them difficult to collect 

 in the heavy undergrowth. 



On the second day of our sojourn, June 19, we visited one of the 

 typical nesting places of this warbler, a boggy, cleared swale, with 

 scattering, small second growth, and soon flushed a female from a 

 nest containing six fresh, or practically fresh, eggs. This nest, 

 typical of the majority of those found in both construction and 

 situation, was placed in the side of a small tussock, bedded in moss 

 and completely overhung by the dead grass of the previous year's 

 growth. The nest was composed entirely of fine, nearly white, 

 dead grass stems. From the front rim protruded outward and 

 downward, a wisp of dead grass tips, lying over the lower grasses 

 in the tussock, and shingled over by the overhanging grass, estab- 

 lishing a continuity of the side of the tussock, thus cunningly adding 

 to the perfect concealment. A tiny tree and one or two bush shoots 

 grew from the tussock, close to the nest, and this feature was typi- 

 cal of the greater number of the nests found. Though larger, 

 the nest was similar, both as to general appearance and situation, 



