THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 183 



head and neck, naked; wrinkled skin of the head and 

 neck, reddish; the plumage is a brownish black. 



The birds nest on the ground or among the debris of 

 rotten logs or stumps, almost invariably in swamps. . The 

 eggs are from one to three in number, of a dirty white, 

 with brown and purple blotches principally near the large 

 end, and two and three- fourths by two inches in size. 



The birds breed and are distributed throughout the 

 southern Middle States southward, a small number also 

 wintering regularly in the southern part of New Jersey. 



Their cry is a low hissing sound. 



Their food is exclusively carrion and they never feed on 

 live animals or vegetable matter. 



Bay-breasted. Length, five and two- 

 thirds inches; extent, twelve inches; bill, one- third of an 

 inch; forehead, cheeks and sides of head, black; a buff 

 patch on each side of the neck; crown, bright chestnut; 

 throat, light chestnut, extending down the whole side of 

 the body; back, gray, with black streaks; lower breast 

 and belly, buffy white; tail, forked, brownish black with 

 white spots; wings, brownish black, with two white bars; 

 legs and feet, dark ash. In the female the colors are 

 duller. In fall the bird .is quite different, being olive 

 above, streaked with black, the under parts are yellowish 

 white and the breast and sides have a chestnut tinge. 



At this season the Bay-breasted and Black-poll Warblers 

 are very similar to one another. 



The birds nest in trees, generally in evergreens; the 

 nest is made of grass and tendrils, lined with hair and 

 plant down. The eggs are either four or five in number, 

 rough on the surface, white, with light markings of 

 brown, and three-fourths by one-half inch in size. 



They breed from northern New England to Hudson's 

 Bay and spend the winter in Eastern Mexico and south- 

 ward to Colombia. They are regular migrants in New 

 Jersey, but generally scarce, although in some years more 



