210 NOltTir AMERICAN BIRDS. 



A true Warbler in most of its attriltutes, this l»ird has many of tlie liabits of 

 Titmice. Liko tiicso it IVet^iu'uts the tojjs of the taller trees, feeding on the 

 small winged insects ..nd caterpillars that abound among the young leaves 

 and blossoms. It has no song, i)roi»erly so called, its notes are feeble and 

 few, and can be heard only a short distance. 



The song of this species is said by Mr. Trii)i)e, of Orange, N. Y., to 

 be a somewhat sharp and lisping, yet unite varied and pleasing, series of 

 ..otes. 



^Ir. Auduljon sj)eaks of this species as breeding iji Louisiana, but his 

 description of the nest ditl'ei-s so entirely from such as are met with in Mas- 

 sachusetts as to suggest doubts as to the correctness of the identification. 

 Jle describes them as Hitting over dani]) i)laces, the edges of jionds and 

 streams, and pursuing tiieir })rey with great activity. They resort to the 

 woods as soon as the foliage appears on the forest trees, and glean among the 

 leaves for the smaller winged insects. 



The nests of this Warbl':r, so far as has fallen luuler my observation, have 

 always been made of li .ig gray lichens still attached to the trees on which 

 they grow. With great skill do these tiny architects gather up, fasten 

 together, and interweave, one with the other, the hanging ends and longer 

 branches. Dy an elaborate intertwining of these h)ng fibres they form the 

 principal part, sometimes the whole, of their nests. These struetiu'es are at 

 once simple, beautiful, ingenious, and skilfully wrought. When first made, 

 they are somewhat rude and unfinished, Imt as their family are gathered, 

 the eggs deposited, incubated, and hatched, a change has been going on. Lit- 

 tle by little has the male bird busied himself, when not procuring food for 

 his mate, in improving, strengthening, and eidarging the nest. These same 

 acts of improvement upon the original nests are noticed with llumming- 

 Birds, Yireos, and a few other birds. 



The nests are sometimes constructed on the sides of trunks of trees, when 

 covered with the long gray lichens, but are more fre([uently found hanging 

 from branches usually not more than six or eight feijt from the ground. 

 Thus surrounded by long hanging mos.ses in clumps not distinguishable from 

 the nests themselves, they would not be readily recognized were it not that 

 those familiar with the habits of the bird may be readily guided to the spot 

 by the artless movements of the unsuspecting parents. 



These birds are confiding, easily approached, and rarely exhibit any signs of 

 alarm. Even when their nest is disturbed they make but little complaint, and 

 do not manii'est any very great signs of emotion. When built against a trunk 

 these nests consist only of an interweaving of the moss above and below a 

 very small o]iening, within whi(di a small cu])-sha])ed Hooring has been nuide 

 of the same material, and usually cannot be removed without destroying all 

 semblance of a nest. When pensile they are imperfectly circular in sha])e, 

 with an entrance on one side, and rarely with any lining. Occiisionally they 

 are models of synnnetrv <ind beauty. 



