542 HISTORY OF THE 



with leaves and grasses, and usually lined with finer grasses. 

 Eggs four or five, .60x.50; white, thinly speckled with varying 

 shades of reddish brown to black, chiefly at or near the larger 

 end; in form, oval. A set of five eggs, collected June 15th, 

 1882, at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, are, in dimensions: . 58x.47, 

 .59x.49, .60x.46, .61x.48, .63x.48. 



Helminthophila ruficapilla ( WILS.). 



NASHVILLE WARBLER. 

 PLATE XXXI. 



Migratory; rather rare. Arrive the last of April to first of 

 May; the bulk return and leave in September; a few linger as 

 late as the middle of October. 



B. 183. R. 85. C. 106. G. 36, 275. U. 645. 



HABITAT. Eastern temperate North America (accidental to 

 Greenland); west to the Great Plains; south in winter to east- 

 ern Mexico and Guatemala; breeding from the northern United 

 States northward. 



"Sp. CHAR. "Head and neck, above and on sides, ash gray; the crown with 

 a concealed dark brownish orange, hidden by ashy tips to the feathers. Upper 

 parts olive green, brightest on the rump. Under parts generally, with the edge 

 of the wing, deep yellow; the anal region paler; the sides tinged with olive. A 

 broad, yellowish-white ring round the eye; the lores yellowish; no superciliary 

 stripe. The inner edges of the tail feathers margined with dull white. Female: 

 Similar, but duller; the under parts paler and with more white; but little trace 

 of the red of the crown." 



Stretch of 

 Length. iving. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. . Bill. 



Male 4.60 7.60 2.40 1.85 .65 .40 



Female... 4.50 7.50 2.35 1.75 .65 .40 



Iris dark brown; bill dusky, pale beneath; legs dark brown; 

 feet and claws dusky, with yellowish hue. 



These sprightly Warblers frequent the timber skirting the 

 streams and clearings, especially where there is plenty of under- 

 growth. In the early part of June, 1880, I found them quite 

 common at Grand Manan, N. B. From their actions, I think 

 they were nesting, but I failed to find their nests. They seemed 

 to prefer for their breeding grounds the edges of the high, open 

 woodlands, where the growth is a mixture of evergreen and 

 deciduous trees. Prof. J. A. Allen gives the following interest- 

 ing description of their nesting habits, etc. , at Springfield, Mass. : 



