118 



or:n^ithologist 



[Vol. 15-No. 8 



A Series of Eggs of the Worm- 

 Eating Warbler. 



No wlierc else has the Wovm-eating Warbler 

 (Helmitherus vermivorus) been found breeding 

 so abundantly as in Chester County, Pennsyl- 

 vania; and singularly enough all the eggs of 

 this bird which have been found there have 

 been taken by Messrs. Thomas H. Jackson 

 and Samuel B. Ladd; and it is to the labors of 

 these very proficient and indefatigable collec- 

 tors that oologists have become well ac- 

 quainted with eggs that were formerly 

 exceedingly rare. 



Mr. H. K. Jamison found two or three sets 

 of eggs of this Warbler in the neighborhood 

 of Manayunk, Pennsylvania; and Mr. Isaac 8. 

 Keiff has found a like number of sets in Bucks 

 County, Pennsylvania; but with the exception 

 of these all the recorded eggs of H. vermivorus 

 that have been taken in that State were col- 

 lected by Messrs. Jackson and Ladd. 



It is not claimed that the series now before 

 me, and described below, contains all their 

 types of coloration and sizes, but it exhibits 

 all but the rarest phases. 



Set 1. June 7, 1889. Chester County, Penn. 

 Collected by Samuel B. Ladd. Nest made of 

 dry leaves, and lined with hair moss, under a 

 small bush. Four eggs, incubation begun. 

 Uglit creamy white, profusely speckled with 

 cinnamon-rufous and a few markings of pearl 

 gray. Near tlie larger ends the specks are 

 much heavier and closer together: .()Sx.56; 

 ,67 X .5(3; .66 x .52; .63 x.55. 



Set II. June 3, 1889. Chester County, 

 Penn. Collected by Samuel B. Ladd. Nest 

 made of dry leaves, lined with hair moss, on 

 ground at foot of beech tree. Four eggs, in- 

 cubation advanced. Light creamy white, i)ro- 

 fusely speckled with cinnamon-rufous and 

 lavender-gray. At the larger ends the mark- 

 ings are much closer together: .68x.5i; 

 .(*)9x.5;3; .70x.55; .69x.54. This set contains 

 a Cowbird's egg. 



Set III. June 5, 1888. Chester County, 

 Penn. Collected by Thomas II. Jackson. 

 Nest of dry leaves lined with hair moss, near 

 the summit of a steep hillside, in tliick, iieavy 

 timber, in a dark and secluded ravine, with 

 stream of water flowing at base of iiill. Mr. 

 Jackson says: ''The bird sat very close, and I 

 could have caught her on the nest. Tbe latter 

 was entirely concealed, excepting in front, by 

 a small laurel bush. The nest was bedded in 

 a hollow scratched by the bird. A thick mass 

 of dry leaves lay around, of wliich tlie nest 



seemed to be a part until it was taken out." 

 Five eggs, incubation commenced. White, 

 speckled and spotted with chestnut and a few 

 specks of lavender-gray. On four of the eggs 

 the markings are very much heavier at the 

 larger ends, but on the fifth the markings are 

 much lighter: .68 x. 55; .68x.55; .69x.54; 

 .68X.53; .68x.5-I. 



Set IV. June 27, 1889. Chester County, 

 Penn. CVdlected by Samuel B. Ladd. Nest of 

 dry leaves, lined with hair moss, on ground, 

 under low busli. Tliree eggs, incubation 

 slight. White, speckled with chestnut and a 

 few markings of lavender-gray, the markings 

 being heavier near the larger ends: .70x.55; 

 .73x.56; .73x.55. Two Cowbird's eggs were 

 found with this set. 



Set V. June 3, 1889. Chester County, 

 Penn. C^jllected by Samuel B. Ladd. Nest of 

 dry leaves lined with hair moss, on ground, 

 under a broken limb. Six eggs, incubation 

 begun. White, speckled uniformly wii.h hazel : 

 .67X.54; .(>Sx.53; .68x.53; .6Sx.53; .70x.53; 

 .69 X .53. 



Set VI. June 6, 18b7. Chester County. 

 Penn. Collected by Samuel B. Ladd. Nest of 

 dry leaves, lined with hair moss. On level 

 ground, at top of a hill. Five eggs, incubation 

 begun. Wliite, spotted with hazel all over the 

 surface, but a little more heavily near tlie larger 

 ends: .70x.54; .71x.55; .70x.55; .7lx..56; 

 .73X.56. 



Set VII. June 9, 1888. Cliester County, 

 Penn. Collected by Samuel B. Ladd. Nest of 

 dry leaves, lined with hair moss, under fallen 

 limb where leaves had drifted. Five eggs, 

 incubation far advanced. White, speckled, 

 more heavily at the larger ends, with hazel: 

 .69X.49; .70x.51; .68x.50; .69x.50; .68x.50. 

 Set VIII. June 7, 1889, Chester County, 

 Penn. Collected by Samuel B. Ladd. Nest of 

 dry leaves, lined with hair moss, on grcnind 

 under a poplar sprout. Five eggs, incubation 

 commenced. Wliite, speckled and spotted 

 with hazel. At the larger ends the markings 

 are heavier: .69x.49; .6)x.48; .(iSx.50. 

 .65X.49; .65 x .48. 



Set IX. June 7, 1889. Chester County, 

 Penn. Collected by Samuel B. Ladd. Nest of 

 dry leaves, lined with hair moss, under a 

 blackberry biisli, in a slight cavity in tlie 

 ground. Six eggs, incubation begun. White, 

 uniformly spotted all over the surface with 

 hazel: .73x.51; .72x.51; .71 x .51 ; .73 x .51 ; 

 .73 X .52; .71 X .52. 



SetX. June 5, 1889. Chester County, Penn. 

 Collected by Thom.is H. Jackson. Nest of 



