88 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 



invariably see in spring a few pairs in the " scrub," especially 

 where swampy. In their summer-homes they inhabit copses 

 and thickets in open spots, finding their food in piles of brush, 

 on the ground, etc., never, however, jerking their tails in the 

 manner of their relations. 



(d). The Mourning Warblers have a sharp chirp, a feeble 

 tsip, and a warbled, liquid song (likened to that of the House 

 Wren, Water Thrush, and Maryland Yellow-throat), which is 

 generally delivered from a high perch. 



III. OPORORNIS 



(A) AGiLis. 25 Connecticut Warbler. 



(A migrant in New England. Extremely rare in spring, 

 and generally rare in autumn, though more than a hundred 

 specimens were taken at Cambridge in two years, when these 

 birds were extraordinarily abundant in fall.) 



(a). About 5^- inches long. Above, olive-green, becoming 

 ashy-tinted on the head. Eye-ring whitish. Throat (and up- 

 per breast), ashy or brownish. Other under parts, yellow. 

 Crown, olive in autumn. 



(6). I believe that the nest and eggs of these birds have 

 never been discovered by any ornithologist. 



(c). The Connecticut Warblers have hitherto, with two re- 

 markable exceptions, been very rare migrants through Mas- 

 sachusetts ; but they may become more common hereafter. I 

 have seen them but once in spring (then only an individual on 

 the tenth of May), and but a few times in September. The 

 following observations were made at the Fresh Pond Marshes 

 of Cambridge, in the autumns of 1870 and 1871, and illustrate 

 the habits of these birds. 



"Mr. Henshaw found them almost constantly engaged in 

 seeking their food on the ground. When startled they would 

 fly up to the nearest bush, upon which they would sit perfectly 



35 The Kentucky Warbler (0. formosus') may stray to New England, though I 

 know no instance of its so doing. It has been known to breed in Eastern New 

 York. 



