234 NORTH A^^ERICAN BIRDS. 



while it is searchinjj; for its fond among the hnniclies, in the manner of the 

 Vireos. 



Like nearly all the momln^rs of this family, in its search for food it hlends 

 the ha])its of the ('ree2K3rs witli tliose of the Flyeatchers, feeding upon 

 insects in tlieir every form, running up and down tlie trunks for tlie ova, 

 larva', and pui)a', expertly catching tlie insect on the wing, aiid etpially 

 skilful in hovering over the ex}>anded bud and searching the oj)ening le.ives. 



Mr. Audubon found its nest placed deep among the branches of low fir- 

 trees, sup]K)rted by horizontal twigs, constructed of moss and lichens, and 

 lined with fibrous roots and feathers. One found in Labrador, in the ln'^in- 

 ning of July, contained five eggs, small and rather more elongated than is 

 common in this genus. They were white, and sja-inkled witli reddish dots at 

 the lai*ger end. The female fluttered among the br.mches, spreading her 

 wings and tail in great distress, and returning to her nest as soon as the in- 

 truders were a few yards off. In x\ugust he saw a numlier of their young 

 already following their parents and moving southward. In his expetlition 

 to Texas, Mr. Audubon a«^ain met this bird, in considerable numbei-s, earlv 

 in Ai:>ril. Their eggs, he states, measure three fourths of an incli in length 

 by nine sixteenths in breadth. In some the ground-color, instead of pure 

 white, is of a yellowish tinge. 



The writer found tins Warbler abundant near Halifjix in the early sum- 

 mer of 1850, freipienting the thick hemlock woods, confiding in its habits, 

 unsuspicious, and easily approached. The distress, as described by Audulx)n, 

 manifested in behalf of its own young, it is as ready to exhibit Mhen the 

 nest of a feathered neighbor is disturbed. A pair of Hudson's Bay Titmice, 

 protesting against the invasion of their home, by their outcries brought a pair 

 of these Warblers to their sympathetic assistance ; and the latter manifested, 

 in a more gentle way, <|uite as much distress and anxiety as tlie real parents. 

 With expanded tail and half-extended wings they fluttered overhead anumg 

 the branches, approaching us almost within reach, uttering the most piteous 

 outcries. 



Sir John Richardson found this Warbler as common and as familiar as 

 the D. a:stira on the Saskatchewan, and greatly :>sembling it in habits, 

 though "ifted with a much more varied and agrr'^ji't'V song. 



Mr. Kennicott met this Warbler on (ireat ►Slave Lake, June 12, 18G0, 

 where he obtained a female, nest, and five eggs. The nest, loosely built, was 

 placed in a small spruce about two feet from the grountl, and in thick 

 woods. The bird was rather bold, coming to her nest while he stood by it. 

 This nest was only one and a half inches deep, with a diameter of three and 

 a half inches ; the cavity only one inch deep, with a ilianieter of two and a 

 half inches. It was made almo.st entirely of fine stems of plants and slender 

 grasses, and a few mosses. The cavity was lined with finer stems, and fine 

 black roots of herbaceous plants. 



The eggs of this Warbler are, in shape, a rounded oval, one end being but 



