234 SINGING BIRDS. 



spruce tree at a considerable elevation. Lichens, dry leaves of 

 the hemlock, and slender twigs formed the exterior ; it was 

 then lined with hair or fur and the feathers of the Ruffed 

 Grouse. He afterwards met with this species in Maine and 

 Newfoundland. 



Nothing is more remarkable in the history of this species 

 than the rarity of the adult and the abundance of the young 

 birds ; these last, which we have long known as the Autumnal 

 Warbler, appear in gregarious flocks in the larger solitary for- 

 ests of Massachusetts as early as the 20th of July, assembled 

 from the neighboring districts probably, in which they have 

 been reared. They remain there usually until the middle of 

 October, at which time they are also seen in the Middle 

 States. They feed on small insects and berries. Late in the 

 season, on a fine autumnal morning, troops of them may be 

 seen in the fields and lanes, sometimes descending to the 

 ground, and busily employed in turning over the new fallen 

 leaves, or perambulating and searching the chinks of the bark 

 of the trees, or the holes in the posts of the fence, in quest of 

 lurking moths and spiders ; and while thus eagerly engaged, 

 they are occasionally molested or driven away by the more 

 legitimate Creepers or Nuthatches, whose jealousy they thus 

 arouse by their invasion. Earlier in the season they prey on 

 cynips, flies, and more active game, in pursuit of which they 

 may be seen fluttering and darting through the verdant boughs 

 of the forest trees. One of these little visitors, which I ob- 

 tained by its flying inadvertently into an open chamber, soon 

 became reconciled to confinement, flew vigorously after house- 

 flies, and fed greedily on grasshoppers and ivy berries ( Cissus 

 hederaced) ; at length it became so sociable as to court my 

 acquaintance and eat from my hand. Before I restored it to 

 liberty, its occasional tweet attracted several of its companions 

 to the windows of its prison. At this time the bird is desti- 

 tute of song, and only utters a plaintive call of recognition. 



Nuttall followed Wilson and Audubon in considering the young 

 Blackburnians a different species, naming it the " Hemlock War- 

 bler." I have given above Nuttall's account of the two. 



