SVI.Viv:')LID.E-TIIE WAUUKKKS. 277 



])lunia;^'i', H(nm» iiu( luiviiij,' fluiu'^cd l>y Ainil U) their suniiiicr cnstiinir. He 

 rej^arduil tlieiii us eoiistaiit residents of those ishiiaLs. They hud all paireil 

 oil' l>y the iiiiddh' of April. 



In tlic ishiiul of St. ( 'roi.x, Mr. Kdward Xewton ohserved these Warl>U*rs from 

 ihe inth of Scptmihi'r to the L'7tli of Mareli. They were jni'sent on the ishmd 

 ahoiit two tliirds nf the vear, and while thev were found were very common. 



In Jamaica, aeeordinu; to Mr. March, they are numerous throu^diout the 

 entin; year, though less almndant durin<j; the summer months. Tliey were 

 always plentiful in the ^aniens about the M<tfj)ijlii(i tjlubro, capturing small 

 insects from the ripe fruit. 



Mr. Closse, on the contrary, reizarded it as only a winter yisitant of that 

 island, ap]K'arin;4 l»y the ISth of August, and disappearing by the 1 Ith of 

 April. He observed them among low bushes and herbaceous weeds, al«»ng 

 the roadside, near the ground, examining every stalk and twig for insects. 

 Others ilew from bushes by tlie wayside to the middle of the road, where, 

 hovering in the air, a few feet frcjm the ground, they seemed to be catching 

 small dij»terous insects. Their stomachs were fdled with fragments of insects. 



Wilson found them usually in open ])lains and thinly wooded tmcts, seaich- 

 ing most leisurely among the foliage, carefully examining every leaf or blade 

 of grass for insects, uttering, at short intervals, a brief vhirr. They did not 

 a])poar to be easily alarmed, and he has known one of these birds to remain 

 half an hour at (i time on the lower branch of a tree, and allow him to ap- 

 proach the foot, without being in the least disturbed. He found their food 

 consisted of winged insects and small cateri)illars. 



In 1808, Mr. John C'assin wrote me : " The Prairie Warbler certainly 

 breeds in New Jersey, near riiiladelphia. I have seen it all summer for the 

 last twelve years, and have seen the young just able to lly, but never f«jund 

 the nest. It has a very peculiar note, which 1 know as well as I do the Cat- 

 bird's, having often followed and searched it out. It frequents cedar-trees, 

 and I suspect breeds in and about them." 



Dr. Cones found the Prairie Warbler mostly a siirimj: find autumn visitant 

 in the vicinity of Washington, being (juite abundant during those seasons. 

 A few were observed to remain during the breed inj^^-season. They arrive 

 earlier than most of this family of birds, or al)out the 20lh of April. He 

 found them frequenting, almost exclusively, cedar-])atches and pine-trees, and 

 sjHjaks of their having yery peculiar manners and notes. 



Both Wilson and Audubon were evidently at fault in their descripti(»ns of 

 the nest and eggs. These do ntit correspond with more lecent and positive 

 observations. Its nest is never pensile. ^I't. Xuttall's descriptions, on the 

 other hand, are made from his own observations, and are evidently coiTect. 

 He describes a nest that came under his obse|v ation as scarcely distinguish- 

 able from that of the D. a:stiva. It was not pensile, but fixed in a forked 

 branch, and formed of strips of the inner bark of the red cedar, fibres of ascle- 

 pia, and caterpillars' silk, and thickly lined with the down of the GnapJialium 



