On the Birds of Ritchie County. 135 



in the manner of Mniotilta varia, moving out along the branches with 

 nimble motion, peering alternately under the bark on either side, and anon 

 returning to the main stem, perhaps in the next instant to hop back to 

 the ground again. On such occasions they rarely ascend to the height of 

 more than eight or ten feet. The males are very quarrelsome, chasing 

 one another through the woods with loud, sharp chirpings, careering 

 witb almost inconceivable velocity up among the tops of the highest 

 oaks, 'or darting among the thickets with interminable doublings until 

 the pursuer, growing tired of the chase, alights on some low twig or old 

 mossy log, and in token of his victory, utters a warble so feeble that you 

 must be very near to catch it at all, a sound like that produced by strik- 

 ing two pebbles very quickly and gently together, or the song of Spizella 

 socialis heard at a distance, and altogether a very indifferent performance. 



19. Helminthophaga ruficajrilla (Wils.) Bd. One or two specimens 

 seen every day, but by no means common. For the most part silent, 

 though I heard the song of the male on a few occasions. 



20. Dendroica cestiva (Gm.) Bd. Restricted entirely to the belt of 

 willows, etc., along the margin of the creek, where it was not uncommon. 

 First specimen noted April 29th. 



21. Dendroica virens (Gm.) Bd. A general arrival May 2d, when the 

 males were in full song; comparatively speaking however, they were not 

 common. Found them mostly among the taller oak and beech growths. 



22. Dendroica cxrulescens (L.) Bd. Less common than the preced- 

 ing, not more than half a dozen specimens being noted. The first (a fe- 

 male) was shot May 5th. Apparently most partial to the thickly wooded 

 ravines. 



23. Dendroica ccerulea (Wils.) Bd. Decidedly the most abundant of 

 the genus here. The first specimen taken May 5th. They inhabit exclus- 

 ively the tops of the highest forest trees, in this respect showing an 

 affinity with D. Blackburnm. In actions they most resemble D. Pensyl- 

 vanica, carrying the tail rather high and having the same " smart bantam- 

 like appearance." Were it not for these prominent chai'acteristics, they 

 would be very difficult to distinguish, in the tree tops, from Parula Ameri- 

 cana, the songs are so precisely alike. That of the latter bird has how- 

 ever at least two regular variations ; in one, beginning low down, he rolls 

 his guttural little trill quickly and evenly up the scale, ending apparently, 

 only when he can get no higher; in the other, the commencement of this 

 trill is broken or divided into syllables, like zee, zee, zee, ze-ee-ee-eep. 

 This latter variation is the one used by D. coeridea and I could detect little 

 or no difference in the songs of dozens of individuals. At best, it is a 

 modest little strain, and far from deserving the encomium bestowed upon 

 it by Audubon, who describes it as "extremely sweet and mellow;" de- 

 cidedly it is neither of these, and he must have confounded with it some 

 other species. In addition to the song, they utter the almost universal 

 Dendroicine lisp, and also, the characteristic tchep of D. coronata, which 

 I had previously supposed entirely peculiar to that bird. 



