1032 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



it breeding in Richland County, Illinois (Orn. of 111., I., pp. 127, 128). 

 In the northern part of the State it is also a common migrant. At 

 Davis Station, Starke County, Mr. H. K. Coale found them very com- 

 mon and breeding, the spring of 1884. The males were first seen, and 

 were common May 11. That day he shot four and saw others. May 

 18 they were also numerous. Then he shot a female the first seen. 



Mrs. Jane L. Hine has found them commonly in Dekalb County. 

 There, she says, it is a regular summer resident. Almost every large 

 swamp has its pair. Their notes may be heard almost constantly in the 

 spring. She reports them as breeding, but notes they are becoming 

 less commonly seen. In Monroe County, Michigan, it formerly bred 

 quite commonly. Mr. H. W. McBride found a pair building their nest 

 in Springfield Township, Lagrange County, about May 12, 1891. 



Early and late dates of first arrival in Indiana are: Brookville, 

 April 29, 1879, May 11, 1885; Richmond, April 22, 1897; Greens- 

 burg, May 7, 1893; Bloomington, May 4, 1886; Camden, May 6, 

 1885; Lafayette, April 24, 1897; Terre Haute, May 17, 1890; Sedan, 

 April 27, 1896, May 8, 1894; Petersburg, Mich., May 2, 1892, May 

 10, 1893; Plymouth, Mich., April 30, 1896, May 18, 1893; Ann Arbor, 

 Mich., May 12, 1889; Chicago, 111., May 9, 1885. In the fall they are 

 very irregular in their movements, also. Some years they disappear 

 the latter part of August, others in September, and again the late 

 movers remain in the vicinity of their breeding grounds into October. 

 The following are some dates of last fall records: Plymouth, Mich., 

 August 20, 1894; Lafayette, Ind., present August 30, September 1?, 

 1895; Warren County, September 14, 1897 (Barnett); Chicago, 111., 

 August 30, 1895. Prof. E. L. Moseley informs me that several were 

 seen at Grand Rapids, Mich., October 4, 1886. 



"Their peculiar, drawling, lisping song is sure, even if I have not 

 heard it for several years, to strike my ear upon entering the woods 

 where one is singing. It. consists of four syllables, zee-zee-zee-zee, 

 slowly brought forth, with a peculiar, vibratory effort. When singing, 

 they are usually most lively and wildest, sometimes leading the col- 

 lector a long chase, as they quickly cover considerable distances in the 

 woods. At other times, when not singing, they are occasionally rather 

 tame. However, as I have usually found them quite well up in the 

 trees, they cannot be said to compare in ease of approach with the 

 last species. In addition to the records of its breeding in Richland 

 County, 111., given by Mr. Robert Ridgway (Orn. of 111., I., p. 127), 

 Mr. A. C. Poling has found it nesting in the Mississippi bottoms in 

 that State. There it frequents the lowlands, covered with grass, with 

 an occasional bush or grove of trees, and all the nests found were 



