IDS NORTH AMKHICAX BIRDS. 



In ]\ In ssai'lm setts it has so far Ihhmi toiiiul in oiilv a tew restricted loeali 

 ties, Aiidnver, Lynn, and Hudson, tli(»u«;li it iindonl»tedly occurs clsewlu*re. 

 About the time Wilson obtained his first sjucinien, a livinj,' bird of tliis 

 s])ecies Hew into the ]>arlor of the Lite ('(»h>nel Thomas H. Perkins of lirook- 

 line, and is now in the collection of his grandson. Dr. Cabot. The latter 

 iientleman states that when he tirst began making collections this War- 

 bler wjis a verv rare visitant to his nei<dd)orhood, but has of late l)ecome 

 much more common, tlunigh vai-ving greatlv in this resi)ect in ditVerent 

 seasons. S])ccimens have l>een (►btained in Western Iowa by Mr. 11. W. 

 Parker, of (Irinnell. 



A few instances of its occurrence west of the Mississippi \'allev are known. 

 One of these was by Xantus near Fort Tejon ; another near Like Taht)e, in tlie 

 Sierra Xevaila, by Mr. (rrul>er; and in the East Hundnddt Mountains, Nevada, 

 bv Mr. liidirwav. Specimens of this Warbler were obtained in the winter by 

 ]\I. Pxmcanl at Oaxaca, Mexico. 



In the summer of 18r>4, Mr. Charles S. Paine found it breeding in Ran- 

 dolph, Vt., but was unable t«> discover the nest. "They spend the sum- 

 mer," he wrote, "among low bushes, and ja-obably build their nests among 

 the thickets. 1 have watched their movements on sever.d occasions. Once 

 1 detected an old bird with food in her bill about to feed her young. I could 

 hear the young birds, yet was unable to find the nest." Two years later, 

 Mr. Oeorge O. Widch, of Lynn, found the nest of this Warbler on the 

 ground in a small thicket. It contained young i)artially Hedged, and one 

 egg unhatched. The nest was built in a slight de]>re.ssion, in a dry place, 

 among fallen leaves and in the shelter of a tidcket of young oak-trees. 

 This egg in shai>e was of a rounded oval, and measured .r»l> by .oO of an inch ; 

 one end was slightly more jjointed than the other. The ground-i'tdor was 

 white, slightly tinged with ]>ink, and marked over the entire surface with 

 puri>lish-brown dots. Around the larger end these spots form a lieautiful 

 wreath of contluent markings. Since then other nests have l)een found in 

 the same locality, all on the ground and l)uilt in like situations. They have 

 a diameter of four and a height of two inches. The cavity has a diameter 

 of two and a depth of one and a (quarter inches. The outer jjortions are 

 built of dry mosses, intermingled with strips of the bark of the wihl grape 

 and the red cedar and a few herbaceous twigs, and lined with a thick layer 

 of dried carices, small leaves of the white pine, and tine grasses. The whole 

 structure is loosely jnit together. The nests are generally concealed by over- 

 arching leaves, which, however, form no part of the nest itself. 



The late Elijah P. Parrow, of Andover, Mjuss., a yonng naturalist of much 

 jiromise, found sever.il nests of this nne Warl)ier, all of which were con- 

 cealed by grjiss. The eggs he found varied in length from .59 to .01 of an 

 inch, and in breadtli from .50 to .51 of an inch. Both jmrents, as observed 

 by him, ^vere entirely silent. 



The Nashville Warbler has been said to be a comparatively silent and 



