25(> XUKTH AMKIJICAX JUKDS. 



Imt tliis lias never 1mm*ii contiiine*!. He rci^MnaMl it as a silent l)ir(l, and 

 Mr. Au(lul»nn ddes not cnnijdinient its vnejil powers. Vet it is a plcasinj^ 

 and varied, if not a iMKvert'ul sin;,'er. Mr. Trippe s|)eak.s of its song as faint 

 and lisping', and as eonsistini^ of fonr or live syllaliles. 



X<»ne »»f onr liirds, U'fore its history was well known, has been made the 

 occasion for more ill-foun(K'd eonjeetnres than the lllaek-roll. Wilson was at 

 fault as to its song and its Southern hreedinj^, and iina;4ined it would he iound 

 to nest in hi.i:h tree-t(»ps, so as not to l>e readily detected. Xuttall, on the 

 other hand, predicted that it would l>e found t«> )»reeilon the grcaind, after the 

 manner of the MniotUtdr, or else in hollow trees Mr. Auduhon, tintlinj,' its 

 nest in Lahrador, inthd^es in rlights of fancy ovt*r its sujij^ised rarity, which, 

 seen in the li;j;ht of «»ur jnesent knowledge, as an alnnidant hird in the local- 

 itv where his expedition was fitted <Mit. are somewhat amusin«;. Tiiat nest 



f I o 



was in a thicket of low trees, contained four eggs, and was placed ahout four 

 feet from the ground, in the fork f>t a small hranch, close to the main stem 

 of a tir-tree. Its internal diameter was two inches, and its depth one and 

 a half. It was formed, externally, of green and wliite moss and lichens, in- 

 termingled with coarse dry grasses. It was lined, with great care, with fine, 

 dry, dark -colored mosses. ?-esem]jling horse-hair, with a thick bed of S(ift 

 feathers of ducks and willow grouse. 



In passing north, these Warhlers, says Audul»on, reach Louisiana early in 

 Feltruarv, where they glean their food among the ujjper branches of the trees 

 overham^ing the water. He never met with them in maritime parts of the 

 South, yet they are abundant in the State of New Jersey near the sea-shore. 

 As they pass northwanl their habits seem to undergo a change, and to par- 

 take more (»f the nature of ('ree])ers. They move along the trunks and lower 

 lind)S, searching in their chinks for larva* and ])Upie. Later in tlie season, in 

 more northern htcalities, we again find them ex]>ert flycatchers, darting after 

 insects in all directions, chasing them while on the wing, and making the 

 clicking sound of the true Flycatcher. 



Thev usually reach Massachusetts after tlie middle of ^lav, ami their stay 

 varies from one, usually, to nearly four weeks, esjtecially when their insect- 

 food is abundant. In our orc-hards they feed eagerly upon the canker-worm, 

 which is just a]>])earing as they pass through. 



Around Kastjxut and at (Irand Menan they confine themselves to the thick 

 swamiA' «j;roves of everj^reens, where they breed on the e<lues of the woods. 

 All of the sever.d nests I met with in these localities were built in thick 

 s}>ruce-tr{»es, about eight feet from the ground, and in the midst of foliage so 

 dense as hardly to be noticeable. Yet the nests were large and bulky for so 

 small a bird, being nearly five inches in diamet<;r and three in height. The 

 cavity is, however, small, being only two inches in diameter, and one and a 

 fourth to (ine and a half in dei)th. Tliev were constructed chiefly of a 

 collection of slench-r young en«ls of branches of ]»ines, firs, and spnice, 

 interwoven with and tied together by long bran( hes of the dmhntvt lichens. 



