THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 185 



generally gathered from tree trunks and the under sides 

 of branches and twigs. 



Warbler, Black and Yellow. See Magnolia Warb- 

 ler. 



Blackburnian, or Torch Bird. 



Length, five and one-fourth inches; extent, nine inches; 

 bill, one-third of an inch, brown; head, the crown is 

 black, with an orange spot in the centre and a yellow 

 stripe passing in a line over the eye; throat and fore 

 breast, fiery orange; back, black, streaked with white; 

 belly and sides, white, tinted with yellow and streaked 

 with black; tail, slightly forked, black, the inner vanes 

 white, except at the tip; wings, black, with large white 

 patch; legs, brown; feet, dusky. In the female the up- 

 per parts are olive, streaked with black, and the orange 

 color is duller. In the fall plumage the orange is re- 

 placed by pale yellow, while the upper parts are like the 

 female. 



The nest is well hidden in trees, generally evergreens, 

 and is made of twigs and grasses, lined with tendrils and 

 finer grasses. The eggs generally number four, although 

 as many as six have been found; they are grayish or blu- 

 ish white, with spots and blotches of brown, and two- 

 thirds by one-half an inch in size. 



The birds breed from northern New England northward 

 and southward on the Alleghanies and spend the winter 

 in the Bahamas and northern South America. They are 

 common in New Jersey during migrations, occurring 

 from May 5 to May 15 and again from September 15 to 

 October 1. 



Their song is a warble with very little variety, sound- 

 ing something like wee-see, wee-see, wee-seek, occasionally 

 with a tse-tse-tse. 



Their food is composed of insects and larvae, generally 

 gathered from the higher branches of trees. 



