138 



THE YELLOW WARBLER. 



Nests may be placed at any height in orchard trees or willows, but without 

 doubt the most acceptable nesting site is afforded by the dense swamp thickets 

 of the Carolina rose. In a day's nesting in the Oak Point swamps of Lorain 

 County, forty-two occupied nests of eight species were examined by myself 

 and a companion, and of these eleven were Yellow Warbler's. 



The cradle of this bird is an exquisite fabrication. The tough inner bark 

 of certain weeds called indiscriminately hemp together with grasses and 

 other fibrous materials in various proportions, is woven into a compact cup 

 about, or settled into, some stout horizontal or ascending fork of bush or tree. 



As a result the 

 bushes are full oi 

 Warblers' nests two 

 or more seasons old. 

 A fleecy lining or 

 mat of plant-down is 

 a more or less con- 

 spicuous feature of 

 every nest. Upon 

 this as a background 

 a scanty horse-hair 

 lining may exhibit 

 every strand; or, ag 

 I once saw in Wash- 

 ington, the eggs 

 themselves may be 

 thrown into high re- 

 lief by a coiled black 

 mattress. 



The Yellow War- 

 bler displays particu- 

 lar ingenuity in ban- 

 ishing the Cowbird's 

 unwelcome egg. In- 

 stead of deserting 

 the spot the birds 

 place a false bottom 

 across the nest and 

 raise the sides to 

 correspond, - - tw T c 



Taken at Oak Point Photo by the Author. Stories, with the 



AN UNUSUALLY DEEP NEST 



^ ground floor to let. 



Ihree- and even four-story nests of this sort have been found. 



