128 LAND-BIRDS. 



ground, feed more upon berries, sometimes those of house- 

 vines, and show a greater liking for hedge-rows and like 

 places, where they often associate with the " Yellow Red- 

 polls " or with the Sparrows. They may generally be dis- 

 tinguished at a distance by their habit of being much in the 

 air, and of taking long flights (as compared with those of 

 other Warblers) at quite a height above the ground. 



d. The " Yellow-rumps " have a soft chip, and a loud check 

 or chuck (which sometimes is softened to chup). I have often 

 heard them sing in May, throughout the day, much like the 

 Purple Finch, but without the richness, fullness, continuity, or 

 melodiousness of that bird's music, especially if heard from 

 a near standpoint. This song is often varied, and sometimes 

 has reminded me of certain of the Maryland Yellow-throats' 

 notes. In October I have once or twice heard the " Yellow- 

 rumps " utter a warble, which was soft, sweet, and very rich. 



M. MACULOSA. Black and Yellow Warbler. "Magnolia 

 Warbler" A rather rare migrant through Massachusetts.* 



a. About five inches long. Dark above. Rump, yellow. 

 Crown, ashy (blue ?). Forehead and a broad bar through 

 the eye, black. Under parts, yellow ; breast, black-streaked. 



Wing-patch, etc., white. , with head-markings and streaks 

 less distinct. 



b. The nest is usually built in a low spruce, often near a 

 path through the woods, three or four feet from the ground, 

 and is finished in the first week of June. (A second is some- 

 times built about the first of July.) It is composed outwardly 

 of pine needles, hemlock twigs, or the like, and is lined with 

 horsehairs or the black fibres of a certain moss. The eggs 

 average .63 X .50 of an inch, and are white, with lilac and 

 brown, or umber brown, markings, often forming a ring about 

 the crown. Some eggs of this species that I found in north- 

 ern New Hampshire are clouded at the larger end with obscure 



* A late spring and early autumn of Worcester and Berkshire counties, 

 migrant through southern New Eng- Massachusetts, and throughout north- 

 land, often common and at times abun- era New England. W. B. 

 dant. It breeds plentifully in portions 



