228 Nuirrii amekican biuds. 



Spanislitt)wii. tliis species has l>een known to breed. In view of the fact that 

 tills hircl is re^avdccl, with ij^ood reason, as one of our most northern sj>ecies, 

 l»recdin«4 to the very shores of the frozen seas, the occurrence seems err.itic 

 and remarkalJe. Yet it is not without corresjxMidini,' vagaries in other spe- 

 cies, the (iarult6Ciiis breeding in Cuba and the tujrina in St. Domingo and 

 Jamaica. 



^Ir. I'aine, of East Iian(h)li.h, Vt., states that these Warbh'rs arrive in his 

 vicinity about tlie iirst (I" May, and remain there nearly two weeks, .iiid then 

 all pass north. They d( not return on their southern lliglit until the last 

 of September, when tliey remain about three weeks. It is a very active, rest- 

 less bird, chirjung continually and very shaqdy as it flies around in search 

 of insects, but lias not, so far as he knows, any song. 



la Southern Illinois, as Mr. liidgway informs me, this bird is a common 

 winter ^ 'ler, remaining kite in sjning with tlie migratory species. It is 



very abundant throui,diout the winter in woods, orcliards, and door-vards. 



Mr. Salvin found this species fre(|Ueiitiiig the more o})en districts about 

 Dueuiis, Guatemala, apparently preferring scattered bushes to the denser un- 

 derwood, and was an abundant s})ecies there throughout the winter season. 



It is but quite recently that we have known with certainty its place and 

 manner of breeding. Neither Wilson, Xuttall, nor Audubon appear to have 

 met with its nest, though the hitter received one from Professor McC'ulloch 

 of Halifax. 



In the summer of IS.'*;"), early in July, I obtained a nest of this sj»ecies 

 in Parsboro', Nova Scotia. It was built in a low bush, in the midst of d 

 small village, and contained six eggs. The i>arents were very shy, and it 

 was with great ditliculty that one of them was secured for identification. 

 Though late in the season, incubation had Itut just commenced. 



The nest was built on a horizontal branch, the smaller twigs of which were 

 so interlaced as to admit of its being built ujkhi them, though their extremi- 

 ties were interwcjven into its rim. The nest was small for the bird, being 

 only two inches in depth and four and a half in diameter. The cavity 

 is one and a half inches (U'C]) and two and a half wide. Its Itase and exter- 

 nal })ortioiis consist of fine, light, dry stalks of wild grasses, and slender 

 twigs and roots. Of the last the firm, strong rim of the nest is exclu- 

 sively woven. Within, the nest is composed of soft, fine gi-asses, downy 

 feathers, and the fine hair of the smaller mammals. 



Mr. Audubon, Avho observed very closely the liabits of these birds durimj: a 

 winter in Florida, describes them as very social among themselves, ski]»]ting 

 along the i)iazza, balancing themselves in the air o]>])osite the sides of the 

 house in search of s])ideis and insects, divinu throuuh the low bushes of the 

 garden after larva' and worms, ami at night roosting among the orange- 

 trees. In his visit to Maine he found them very abundant in earlv May. 

 The woods seemed alive with them, and wherever he landed, on his way to 

 Labrador, he found them in great numbers. 



