BIRDS OF NEW YORK 399 



it is not reported earlier than the 20th. The average date of arrival for 

 several years has been May 9 in western New York. Between the 20th 

 and 30th of May it disappears on its northward migration. After the 

 20th of the month very few, if any, males are seen; but on Decoration day, 

 during 2 or 3 years of my experience, I have seen from 3 to 5 females near 

 the southern shore of Lake Ontario in Monroe county. Although, as 

 stated above, this warbler is known to breed in corresponding latitudes, 

 we have been unable as yet to record it positively as a breeding species 

 in the Adirondack district, although the author searched for it diligently 

 during the spring and summer of 1905, and various bird students who are 

 perfectly familiar with the species have looked for it in the same region 

 without success. In the fall, migration begins between the 5th and the 

 1 2th of September and the last of the species is usually seen between the 

 15th and the 20th of that month. 



Haunts and habits. This warbler is slower and more deliberate in 

 movements than most of the genus Dendroica, but it seems to have a pre- 

 dilection for the tree tops during the migration season, although I have 

 seen it in considerable numbers in cherry orchards and shrubbery, especially 

 on cool, damp mornings. Brewster and Gerald Thayer have both called 

 attention to the fact that it is a loud and persistent singer, and that it 

 frequently remains in isolated trees near houses during the migration. 

 Its song has been called a " remarkable jingling noise," and some have 

 considered it usually a mute species, which has been the author's experience 

 with the migrating birds of western New York. On its breeding grounds, 

 however, the song is fairly conspicuous, resembling considerably the Black 

 and white warbler's penetrating note. Comparatively little is known of 

 its breeding habits, but most of the nests found have been placed in low, 

 evergreen trees, usually in rather open fields or pastures. The nest is 

 rather loosely and roughly constructed, though more compact than that 

 of the Magnolia, according to Chamberlain, and " the lining is almost 

 entirely of horse hair, the brim being turned with exquisite grace." The 

 eggs have been compared in ground color to those of the Magnolia warbler, 



