114 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 



An interesting anecdote, relative to these birds, has been 

 communicated to me by a student in the Institute of Tech- 

 nology. On the eleventh of May, 1875, a male of this species 

 fell stunned through the ventilator, on to the floor of the draw- 

 ing room in the topmost story. He was finally placed on the 

 sill of an open window, from which, when revived by the fresh 

 air and sun, he afterward took flight. In summer the Black- 

 burnian Warblers are common in northern New England, 

 where they inhabit woodland, particularly evergreen-swamps, 

 but in Massachusetts are extremely rare, or rather accidental. 



(d). When together in family-parties, they twitter con- 

 stantly. Their ordinary note is a c/i(p, or weak syllables like 

 those uttered by the Golden-crowned " Wrens," as tsee-tsee or 

 tsee-tsee-tsee. Their song is not very musical, though simple 

 and pleasing. As I have heard it in their summer-homes, 

 it resembles the syllables wee-see-wee-see-wee-see (wee-see-ick) . 

 As heard in spring I may liken it to wee-see-wee-see, tsee-tsee- 

 tsee-tsee-tsee-tsee-tsee-tsee. The latter syllables are on an as- 

 cending scale ; the very last is shrill and fine. 



(G) C^ERULEA. Ccerulean Warbler. Blue Warbler. 



(It is possible and probable that this species may occasion- 

 ally stray to Massachusetts, but I know no instance of its 

 having done so.) 



(a). 4-4 inches long. $ of an exquisite blue, black- 

 streaked. Under parts white, with sides streaked. Wing-bars 

 white. In the (unstreaked ? ) 9 the blue is greenish, and the 

 white yellowish. Superciliary line also j^ellowish. 



(6). Audubon says: "The nest is placed in the forks of a 

 low tree or bush, more frequently on a dog- wood tree. It is 

 partly pensile, * * *. The fibres of vines and of the stalks 

 of rank herbaceous plants, together with slender roots, com- 

 pose the outer part, being arranged in a circular manner. The 

 lining consists entirely of the dry fibres of the Spanish moss. 

 The female lays four or five eggs, of a pure white colour, with 

 a few reddish spots at the larger end." 



(c). I have never seen the Cserulean Warblers, and I have 



