290 Stanwood, The Black-throated Green Warbler. [f^^ 



take it, lei-sure-ly; take it, take it, lei-sure-Iy. "What I speak of 

 as the third song, I have heard only in one locaHty as if sung by 

 but one bird. At different times I have translated it in three 

 syllables, chee, dice, chee, read-y; te, te, ti, de-ee; or sui, sui, sui, 

 si(-i. By some each translation might be regarded as a separate 

 song. 



It was in the twilight that I came upon the beautiful, fragile little 

 nest of the Black-throated Green Warbler for the first time. On 

 hasty inspection it looked like a mass of moss. A closer investi- 

 gation showed the suggestive moss-like mass to be a nest, shaped 

 almost as gracefully as a Tiffany vase. It was located on the 

 border of a swamp, in the vertical crotch of a hemlock, about six 

 feet from the ground. I could just touch the eggs with the tips 

 of my fingers. To see them, I had to climb the neighboring tree. 



There were three eggs in the nest, creamy-white, minutely 

 speckled all over with reddish brown dots, and ringed with reddish- 

 brown around the larger end. On one of the eggs the spots were 

 confluent. The eggs were small and broad like the ^Magnolia 

 "Warbler's. 



The nest was well set down into the crotch of a branch. It could 

 be lifted out of the support very easily as it was not attached to 

 any of the twigs. The sides were deeply grooved by the surround- 

 ing stems, the material bunching out between them. The founda- 

 tion of the structure was spruce twigs, cedar bark fibre, spider's 

 silk, cord, thin strips of white birch bark, and roots; the lining con- 

 sisted of cedar bark fibre, roots and hay. One might almost say 

 the material was miscellaneous. The nest was so fragile that the 

 light shone through the walls in many places. The hemlock foli- 

 age well concealed the tiny abode from any but an inquisitive 

 observer. 



June 19 (1907), there were four eggs in the nest, and the bird 

 was sitting. I walked back and forth under the tree and talked 

 to her for some time before she would abandon her charge. As I 

 climbed the next tree for a peep at the eggs, the bird scolded me 

 somewhat and acted a little as if she were going to fly at me. She 

 alighted within three feet of where I was sitting. I slipped down 

 out of the tree and sat a yard or so away, and the bird returned to 

 her duties again immediately. 



