.SVI.VICOLIIXK — THE WAUHLEHS. 225 



Dr. Cooper found tliis Wnrlilcr very iilmiulaiit in Wiisliinjfton Territory, 

 and notici'd tlioir arrival in large numbers al the Straits of Vww as early 

 as April 8. 



The Sununer Vello\v-l>ird ariives in New England with great unil'oruiity 

 from the lirst to the middle of May. Its eonung is usually the harhinger <it' 

 the ojiening summer and expanding leaves. I'ldike most oi' its family, it is 

 confiding and familiar, easily encouraged, liy attention to its wants, to eultivate 

 the society of man. It eontidingly Imilds its nest in gardens, often in elo.se 

 vieinity to dwellings, an<l in the midst of large villages and cities, auKJUg the 

 shrubbery of fre(|uented parks. This Warbler, .soon after its arrival, begins 

 *lie construction of its nest. It is usually placed in hiw bushes, three or four 

 feet from the ground. Occasionally very ditl'erent positions are chosen. 

 Hedges of Imckthnrn and hawthorn, liarlierrv-liushes, ami other low sliruit.s, 

 are their favorite ])laces of resort. On one occasion the nest was jilaced 

 some forty feet from the ground, in the top of a horse-chestnut tree over- 

 hanging the main street of a village. Such high positions are, however, 

 not very common. 



The nest is invarialily fastened to .several twigs with gre;it tirmness, and 

 with a remarkabh> neatness and skill. A great variety of materials is em- 

 ])loved in the construction of their nests, though not often in the same ne.st, 

 ' hich is usually quite hoinogeneou.s. The more connnon materials are the 

 hempen fibres of jtlants, librous strips of bark, slender stems of plants and 

 leaves, and down of a.sdejiias. Interwoven with these, forming the iimer 

 materials, are tlu^ down from willow catkins, the woolly furze from fern-stalks 

 and the Kriophnrnin. ri.ri/iiiicinii, arid similar substances. These are lined with 

 soft, fine gras.ses, hair, feathers, and other warm materials. Cotton, where 

 procural>le, is a favorite material; as al.so is wool, where abundant. I have 

 known instances where nests were laiilt almost exclusively of one or the 

 other material. A pair of these liirds, in ISIKi, liuilt their nest under a par- 

 lor window in lioxltury, wiiere all their operations coidd be chisely watched. 

 When discovered, only the framework, the fastening to the su])])orting twigs, 

 had l)een erected. The work of compliition was sim])le and rai)id. The 

 female was the chief builder, taking her jxisition in the centre of the nest 

 and arranging the materials in their jjlaces as her mate brought Miem to her. 

 Occasionally, with outstretched wings and exi)anded tail, she would whirl 

 herself round, giving to the soft and yielding materials their liemis]iherical 

 form. At intervals she arrested her revolutions to stop and regulate with 

 her bill .some unyielding i»(irtion. When her mate was dilatory, .she made 

 brief excursions and collected material for her.self, and when the materials 

 brought her were deemed nnsuital>le, they were rejected in a most summary 

 and amusing manner. Tiie im])ortant part >; the tail-feathers in shaping the 

 nest and jdacing the materials in position was a striking feature in this in- 

 teresting i)ertormance. The greater portion of the nest was thus constructed 

 in a single day. 



29 



