^"''me'^"^] MousLEY, Birds of Hatley, Quebec. 177 



branch of a cedar tree six feet above the ground. It contained a full set of 

 four eggs somewhat heavier marked and larger than those of the Red-eyed, 

 their average size being .82 X .58. The birds were not at all shy and kept 

 in the immediate neighbourhood of the nest on several occasions when I 

 visited it. I am unable at present to give any specific date of arrival or 

 departiue, not having observed the birds at those periods. 



92. Mniotilta varia (Linnajus). Black and White Warbler. — 

 Fairly common summer visitant; May 4 to Sept. 10. Average date of 

 arrival (for four years) May 6; of departure (for three years) Sept. 5. 

 Eggs: June 4 to 9. This tree creeping little warbler is more plentiful at 

 migration times than in the summer, only a limited number of pairs re- 

 maining to breed. Of the three nests I have succeeded in finding so far, 

 one was hidden away in a small hollow under a fallen tree trunk, another 

 was placed at the foot of an alder sapling, and the third was in the uptiu-ned 

 roots of a fallen tree three feet above the ground. They were all com- 

 posed of dry leaves, moss and strips of bark, heavily lined with long black 

 and white horse hairs, the average dimensions of the three being: outside 

 diameter 3f , inside If inches; outside depth 2 J, inside 1^ inches; the second 

 nest contained a rare set of six eggs, one of which was wreathed at the 

 smaller end, the third a full set of five, and the first was either robbed or 

 abandoned as I never found any eggs in it. 



93. Compsothlypis americana usneae (Brewster). Northern 

 Parula Warbler. — Rare summer visitant; May 14 to June 26. Eggs: 

 June 5 to 26. The present year (1915) has certainly been a warbler one, 

 and this may account for my good fortune in finding two nests of this 

 charming and smallest of warblers, in a district where usnea lichen does 

 not abound, and where at all events the bird must be rare at any time. 

 Certainly I have failed to notice it in previous years in the only swampy 

 wood where usnea longissima hangs in long festoons from a very limited 

 number of trees. Here the two exquisite little nests were found both in 

 fir trees, the first some thirty-five feet up, and the second about twenty-five 

 feet, both pensile, attached to long streamers of usnea, and composed 

 almost entirely (especially the latter one) of this lichen, only a very little 

 plant down, fine red rootlets and hair being used as a lining, and containing 

 four and three eggs respectively. The average dimensions of the two are 

 as follows, viz: outside diameter 2f, inside \\ inches; outside depth 2|, 

 inside 2| inches. As only a pair of birds were located at any one time, and 

 seeing that the construction of both nests are similar, and the date of the 

 second one somewhat late, I have come to the conclusion that it contained 

 the second set of eggs from this one pair of birds. This nest (which was 

 situated just sixty yards from the site of the first one) with the branch it 

 was attached to, I have presented to the Victoria Memorial Museum at 

 Ottawa, where I hope it will eventually give pleasure to innumerable bird 

 lovers, who have not the opportunities of viewing such works of art in their 

 natural surroundings. After the taking of this nest the birds were not seen 

 again, nor did the fall migration produce any. 



