SVLVICOLID.K TllK W A Klil.KKS. JgS 



of resiu't. Tlii'V iilso |trcri'i'rt'(l llic lidrdcrs ol' sheets (if wiiler to tlie iiiloiior 

 III" the. tuvest. Tliey return iii s|niii,ii,' tu tlu^ Soiillierii States early in Maveh, 

 l)iit ti) Ki-ntneky not lieinre tlie last nf A|iril. 'I'hey leave, in Oilolier, and 

 raise hut a sin.i^le l)n>(Pil in a seasun. AiKhilmn ilescrilK'S their nest, liul it 

 it (lillers so essentially I'loni their known mode of hivedin.L;, that he was 

 evidently in eiroi' in rej^aid to his siipjiosed identiiiealion of the ne^l of 

 this Rjiecies. 



Dr. Iiaehnian, who often met them on tiie honleis of small streams near 

 Charleston, was <'ontident that they breed in that State, ami notieed a pair 

 with four youi;;.;- iiirds as early as .June I, in iS.'Ki. 



lieeently more li'^ht has lieen thrown u|ion theii' hahits hy Mr. I>. K. 

 (loss, who, in May, lS(i."., found them iireedini^ near Neosho Kails, in Kansas. 

 The nest was iaiilt within a Woodpeeker's hole in tiie slump of a tri'e, 

 not more than three feet hi,i;li. The nest was not roundeil in shajH', hu' 

 made to eonfoini to the irregular cavity in which it. was huilt. ft was 

 of ohloui;' shape, and its cavity was deepest, not in the centre, hut at one 

 end, upon a closely impacted hasi^ ni,,de up of IVii^'meiits of thied loave.s, 

 broken bits of glasses, stems, mosses, and lichiMis, decayed wood, and other 

 material, tlu^ upper ]>ortion consist Iul; of an interwea\ iuL; of line roots of 

 wooded plants, varyin.ii, in si/.e, but all stroiij;', wiry, and slender. It was 

 lined with hair. 



Other nests since <liscovered are of more uniform I'oiins, circular in shape, 

 and of coarser materials, and all are built witii unusual strength and care for 

 a nest oceupyini; a sheltered ca\ ity. 



In ou" instance ilieir nest was built in a brace-hole within a mill, where 

 the birds could bi closely watched as they carried in the materials, and the 

 parent was afterward taken by hand by Mr. tloss from its nest. It was 

 ([iiite tanu", and aiiproached within two yards of him. 



Since then Mr. IJid^way has obtained a nest at Ml. Carmel, III. It was 

 built in a hollow snaj;', about \\\c feet from the ,i;round, in the river bot- 

 tom. So fai' from beiny noisy and vociferous, as its name would seem to 

 imply, Mr. Iiidj^w.iy describes it as one of the shyest and most silent of all 

 the Warblers. 



Tlit^ I'ligs of this W'arblei' haxc an aveia^i^ breadth of ..'i."i of an inch and a 

 lenjith varyiii";: from .tl."t to .7" of an inch. They are of a rounded-oval form, 

 i;ne end heiii^f but slightly less rounded than the other. Their ground-color 

 is a yellowish or creamy while, more or h-.-^s profusely marked ovi'r their 

 entire surface with lilac, ]iuiple, and a dark purplish-brown. 



Mr. Kid^'way states that it is idways an abundant snmmei' liird in the 

 Wabash bottoms, where it inhabits print'ipally luishy swamps ami the wil- 

 lows around the borders of stai^naiit lagoons or " ponds " near the river, and 

 in such hx'alities, in c',nipany with the Wliite-bellietl Swallow {/liriiiii/o 

 liiniftir], takes possession of the holes of the Downy \Vood|>ecker {J'icus 

 /tiihrsi'fiis) and ('hick;idee (/'urns ((irn/iiii nsis), in which to build its iiest. 

 ■J I 



