BIRDS OF NEW YORK 



415 



" This warbler may be considered abundant and evenly distributed 

 in Yates county. It is found in all clearings where bushes have grown 

 up, whether it be the highland or lowland. They begin nestbuilding 

 about the 17th of May, and in three instances noted take 5 or 6 days 

 to complete the nest. The full set of eggs is deposited as early as May 26, 

 sometimes as late as June 9. 

 One nest of the Chestnut-sided 

 warbler was found July 13 con- 

 taining young just hatched, 

 but July nesting seems to be 

 rare. The nests are very 

 shabby, being loosely inter- 

 woven with broad blades of 

 bleached grass, shreds of 

 weed bark and grass stems, 

 lined with fine, round, reddish 

 grasses or tendrils, and horse 

 hair. The eggs are 4 in num- 

 ber, white or creamy white, 

 marked with wreaths of brown, 

 blackish and lavender. Nest- 

 ing situations are always along 

 old wood roads or close to 

 open places or the bushy edges of woodland, the nest being concealed 

 in briers or the forks of bushes from 15 inches to 4 feet from the ground " 

 (Stone MSS.). 



As Burtch and Stone have found this the most abundantly distributed 

 warbler in Yates county brushlands, so I found it in Erie and Cattaraugus 

 counties from 1882 to 1885, nesting commonly in the same situations 

 selected by the Indigo bird, and almost always within 2 feet of the ground. 



Photo by L. S. Horton 

 Chestnut -sided warbler's nest and eggs 



