380 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



and then the other. This species is more confined to the trunks and 

 larger branches than any of the other creeping warblers, such as the Yellow- 

 throated warbler or the Pine warbler. 



The preferred haunts of the species are open woodlands of deciduous 

 trees or mixed growth, with abundance of brushy vegetation, or the tangles 

 of brush and vines on the edges of ravines or slashings where only a few 

 trees have been left. Here its nest is usually found on or near the ground, 

 concealed under the edge of a mossy log or stone or among roots of a stump 

 or at the foot of a sapling. It is a rather bulky structure composed of 

 leaves, grasses and strips of bark, lined with fine rootlets, a few grass blades 

 and long hair. The eggs are 4 or 5 in number, of a rounded oval shape 

 and rather bluntly pointed, of a grimy or milky white ground color rather 

 heavily and profusely spotted with reddish brown, chestnut, hazel and 

 lilac, as usual in the family, tending to form a wreath near the larger 

 end of the egg. The dimensions average .66 by .53. In southeastern 

 New York the eggs are laid from the 10th to the 20th and 30th of May; 

 in western New York the first are commonly found between the 20th of 

 May and the 12th of June. Birds were found near Mt Marcy feeding 

 their young on the 1st of July, which would seem to give June 5th or 10th 

 as the proper date for that year in the Adirondacks. 



Mr Gerald Thayer writes the song " ssee-wwee, ssee-wwee, ssee-wwee, 

 ssee-wwee " with a slight emphasis on the second note of each couplet. 

 Doctor Mearns has heard it sing a little ditty almost exactly like the 

 Redstart's during the full tide of migration. In any case, the song of 

 the Black and white warbler is described as a feeble refrain, thin and wiry 

 in quality. Many people can not hear the song at a distance of more 

 than 3 or 4 rods. The common call note of the bird is written by Allison 

 as " dzt, dzt, dzt " and often it is repeated several times in rapid succession. 

 This is the note commonest heard during the migrations. About the 

 nest a sharp " pit " or chip of alarm is usually heard. 



