PR Alii IE W A I! It I. K IS. 59 



I kept t\\M tame White Herons. Tliesc lino birds attracted many visitors who constantly passed 

 under the nest, which was only about seven feet from the ground, yet the female yellow bird 

 would sit upon her eggs with the utmost composure all the time, and succeeded in rearing a fine 

 brood of young. These Warblers breed during the first week in June, and the song of the 

 m-ilcs is uttered constantly at this season. It is loud, clear, and divided into two parts, the first 

 of which consists of three or four quick chirps ; the latter portion is more continuous, but is 

 somewhat varied. The force with which these notes are delivered causes the little performer's 

 body to quiver all over, quite to the end of the tail. While singing the head is raised, the bird 

 ceases its search for insects for a moment and gives its entire attention to the song, then 

 will pursue its avocations. Thus these little birds are constantly pouring forth their lays at 

 intervals through the day and continue to warble until late in the summer. They are not 

 very active in comparison with other members of the family. We may expect to see the 

 Yellow Warblers in Massachusetts about the first week iu May; they moult in August and 

 depart for the South in early September. 



DENDRCECA DISCOLOR. 



Prairie Warbler. 

 Dendroeca discolor BAIUD, Birds of North America, 1858, 290. 



DESCRIPTION. 



SP. CH. Form, slender. Size, not large. Tail, slightly rounded. Bill, slender and rather acuminate. Sternum, 

 of the same form as that of the preceding ; in fact, the sterna of D. maculosa, cestiva, et discolor are so nearly alike In 

 size and form, that if the labels were removed it would be impossible to decide to which species any particular 

 sternum belonged. Tongue, thin, horny, rather short, not very acuminate, quite deeply cleft, ciliated at the end and 

 along the sides for one-third the terminal length. 



COLOR. Adult male in spring. Above, greenish-yellow with the middle of the back abruptly marked with more 

 or less confluent blotches of chestnut. Wings, brown, edged on the outer webs with greenish. The upper wing 

 coverts are tipped with yellowish-white. Tail, also brown, edged on the outer webs with greenish and with long 

 spots of white on the inner webs of the six outer feathers. This color extends over two-thirds of the terminal 

 length of the two outer feathers, but the inner barely marked with it. Beneath, including sides of head, superciliary 

 line, under wiug coverts, under tail coverts, and edge of wing, bright yellow; with a line through the eye beginning 

 at the base of the bill, a maxillary line or spot, spots on the sides of the neck, streaks on the sides and flanks, black. 



Adult male, in autumn, has the chestnut of the back obscured with greenish ; the black of the under portions 

 is also washed with yellow. 



Adult female, similar to the young male, but the young female is without a trace of chestnut above where the 

 greenish is washed with whitish. The lower portions are paler and exhibit but a few faint lines of black. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



This is a well marked species in the adult plumage and will not be confounded with any other. The young 

 females closely resemble those of D. maculosa, but may be readily distinguished from them by the white bar on the 

 tail of the latter as described under that head. In this young stage of plumage, D. discolor may be known from all 

 other young Warblers by the faint streaks of black on the sides. Specimens found breeding in Florida do not differ 

 essentially from those taken in New England, except that they are, perhaps, a little smaller. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Average measurements of twenty-eight specimens from New England and Florida : Length, 4-75; stretch, 7-03; 

 wing, 2-25; tail, 1-85; bill, -45; tarsus, -70. Longest specimen, 5-20; greatest extent of wings, 7-35; longest wiug, 

 2-40; tail, 2-10; bill, -55; tarsus, -74. Shortest specimen, 4-50; smallest extent of wings, C'30; shortest wing, 2-00; 

 tail, 1-70; bill, 40; tarsus, -60. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



Nests. The following description was kindly given to me by Mr. Brewster: "The nests, of which I have found 

 numbers, agree so nearly in detail that a description of one will suffice for all. They are usually placed In a barberry 

 bush, but sometimes in a hazel, and are fastened into the fork of some upright twig or almost hung, as it were, 

 between three or four disconnected shoots. The nnst is a closely woven structure, formed externally, of coarse 



