274 NOUTII AMKIJICAX JilflDS. 



mens in rreorfrin. near Savaniiali, early in Felnnary, and infers tliat sonio pass 

 the entire winter in (Jeor^ia, which is not inij»rohahle, as tliis hird can emhno 

 severe weatlier without any apitarent inconvenienee. 



There are several niarketl ])e(*uliarities in the hahits (tf this "Warhler which 

 (listiniiuish it t'roni everv other (•!' its ''enus. Alone of all the Ihniln)irn\ so 

 far as is known, it huihls its nest on the i^round.and istjuite terrestrial in its 

 habits, and, notwithstandinii the statements of earlier writers, these are<|uite 

 different fr(»ni all others of this «^enus. It has very little of the habits of the 

 Creeper and still less of the Flycatcher, while it has all the manners of the 

 true (Iround Warbler, and even a]>]m).\imates, in this res])ect, to the Titlarks. 



My attention was first called to these j)eculiarities by Mr. Downes of 

 Halifax, in the sunnner of isr»l ; and I was surj>rised to tind it nestini: on the 

 ground, and yet more to note that in all its movements it apj)eared fully as 

 terrestrial as the Maryland Yellow-Throat, or the Towhee Finch. Since then 

 Mr. r>oardman aiid other naturalists have found its nest, which is alwavs on 

 the ground. 



Mr. MacCulloch, in the fourth volume of the Journal of the Boston 

 Natural History Society, has given an interesting ]>a]>er upon the terrestrial 

 peculiarities of this species, showing them to be nearly identical with those 

 of the sciuri, with whom he thinks it should be classed. In its terrestrial 

 movements this bird is shown to be (juite at home, while oth(*r AVarblers, 

 when driven by necessity to feed upon the ground, are awkward, and mani- 

 fest a want of adaptation. 



Dr. Henry Brvant, another verv close and accurate observer, in his notes 

 on the birds of the I»ahamas, referring to this AVarbler, speaks of it as ex- 

 tremely abundant, but contined to the sea-.sliore. "Its habits," he adds, 

 apparently with some surprise, " are decidedly terrestrial, an<l it approaches, 

 in this respect, to the Titlarks. They were constantly running along the 

 edges of the road, or else ho])ping amongst the low branches in the pastures. 

 I did not see a sin«de indiviilual seeking for food amidst the large trees. 

 Those birds could be constantly seen running up and down in the market in 

 search of small flies. These thev cau«>ht either on the ground or else bv 

 hopping up a few inches, scarcely opening the wings, and alighting directly." 



Mr. J. A. Allen, in his Uirds observed in Western ^hissachusetts, shows 

 that these peculiarities of lial)its in this Warbler had not esca])ed his notice. 

 He speaks of it as " frequenting, in company with i>. jnnns, the edges of 

 thickets, orchards, and open fields, o/id i'm much on the ground'' 



Mr. George A. Boardman, writing me from St. Stephen, March, 1807, says : 

 " The Yellow Iled-Poll is one of our most common Warblers, and, unlike 

 most other Warblers, spends nnich of its time feeding nj)on the ground. It 

 is no uncommon thing to see a dozen or two on the ground in my garden at 

 a time, in early spring. Later in the season they have more of the habits of 

 other Warblers, and are in sumnn^r expert flycatchers. In the fall we again 

 see them mostly u}K)n the ground, feeding with the l>lue Snowbirds {Junco 



