a Gbe Marbler 



kirtlandi, and after watching and listening to him all the morning, I saw him 

 leave a Jack Pine tree and fly down into the grass, stay there a minute and fly 

 back to the same tree. I at once went to the spot, flushed the female and 

 discovered a beautiful nest and four fresh eggs. Both birds watched me and 

 I had no trouble in taking them. 



The nest was made of grasses and vines, was well hollowed and was em- 

 bedded in the ground at the foot of a small oak tree surrounded by a thick 

 circle of Jack Pines {Pinus banksiana) and a few White Pines {Pinus strobus). 

 Nest measured 2 inches in diameter, 1 ]/ 2 inches deep. Vegetation around it 

 was very thick, Sweet Fern {Comptonia asplenifolia), Wintergreen {Ganl- 

 theria procumbens), and Bear Berry {ArctostapJiylos Uva-Ursi), so nest was 

 very well concealed. The female is a very close sitter and it is an easy 

 matter to capture her on the nest as one can throw a hat over her. 



The eggs are very handsome and all measure alike, 2 cent, x 15 to 16 

 mm. Color, white, heavily spotted and marked light brown. 



The male is a very beautiful, loud, incessant singer and usually sings all 

 day if the weather is cool ; if hot there is a lull from 1 1 a. m. until about 

 4 p. m. The male has several songs, the predominating one as follows : 

 Ter-ter ter {ter ter-ter) ser-wit-er-zve — part enclosed faster than the rest, 

 beginning of song low, rising after the first notes to the end. On a clear, 

 favorable day the song can be distinctly heard at a distance of half a mile. 



I put in nearly two weeks studying the song and nesting habits of this 

 interesting bird. The male is not timid and will allow close observation, 

 and on account of his loud song and beautiful plumage is very noticeable. 



He seems to throw his whole energy into his song. I have watched one 

 sing nearly half an hour incessantly. Usually he will sing for five minutes, 

 they feed a little, hopping from the top to the bottom of the tree, sometimes 

 to the ground for a minute, then back to the top of the tree to resume his 

 beautiful song. In singing his head is well thrown back, his throat will 

 swell out and the music seems to intoxicate him. 



The female has a chipping note similar to a female Song Sparrow. 

 Although I have watched several males for hours I have never seen one 

 feed a female on a nest. 



The male usually sings on a Jack Pine tree, sometimes on an Oak, and 

 one male sang on the top of a dead White Pine at an elevation of about sixty 

 feet. The bird will sing on the top branch and continue singing to the low- 

 est branch, but never on the ground so far as my observations go. 



This type set is now in the beautiful collection of Mr. John Lewis Childs, 

 and as I dug out a goodly part of the sod with its surrounding vegetation 

 and the nest and eggs in the centre with the two parents accompanying it, 

 the group is, indeed, very interesting and unique. 



For over a half century the breeding locality of D. kirtlandi has 

 been a mystery. Michigan, a paradise for Warblers, has proved to be its 



