SVI,V1('()L11)J.:— TIIK \VAi;iJLEU8. 209 



sippi. Ih. \V'()(.il house stiit.>s that it is comuioii in Toxfis iiiul Xi-w Mexico. 



It was nut, however, met witli by any other of the -•overiiiiieut ex[.luriiio- 



parties. Dr. Cerhanh tomiil it (piite coninion in Northern (ieorgia, wliere it 



remains ill the winter, and where it breeds very early in the season'. On the 



lllth of Ai)ril he found a nest of these liirds with nearly full-j.rown youno. 



It has not been found in Maine by Professor N'errill nor by Mr. lioardinan, 



nor in Nova Seotia by Lieutemtut JUand. Mr. Allen has found it breedin.-' 



abundantly in t!ie west,.,n part of iMa,ssa(;husetts, where it i.s oni; of the 



earliest Warblers to arriv.", and where it remains until Uetol)er. In ISlil 



they \ver(! abundant in tlu pin,; woods near Sprin-tield as early a.s Ajml 4, 



aluhough the yround at t lat lime was covered with snow. J)urin,u the last! 



weeks of Ajnil and the larly part of .May tiiev freipient the open fields, 



obtaininjr mueh of thei • food from the j-round" in company with I), jm/- 



vwnna, the habits ..f which, at this time, it closely foUows. Later in the 



season they retire to the pine forests, where they remain almost exclusively 



throughout the summer, chietiy ..n the tops of the tallest trees. For a few 



weeks precedinj. the first of ()..tober they anain come about th.- orchards an.l 



fiolds. In its winter minrations it does u«t appear to leave this country, and 



has not been found in any of the West In.lia Islands, in .Mexico, m.r in South 



or Central America. It biet'ds s]iarin-ly in S(.iithern Illinois. 



Mr. Jones found the.se birds numerous in IJermiida late in September, but 

 tliey all disappeared a few ue.'ks later. Dr. Ihyant found them at Inagua, 

 liahamas. 



Wilson first noticed this Warliler in the pine Moods of the Southern 

 States, where he found it resid..nl all the year. He describes it as running 

 along the bark of pine-trees, though occasi(aially alighting and feeding on 

 the ground. When disturbed, it always flies up and clings to the trunks of 

 trees. The farther .soutii, the nion^ numerous he found it. Its principal food 

 is the seeds of the Soutiiern pitch-pine and various kimls of insects. It was 

 as.sociated in flocks of thirty in the dej.tlis of the pine barrens, easily recog- 

 nized by their manner of rising from the ground and alighting on the trunks 

 of trees. 



Audubon also s])eaks of this bir.l as the most aluuidant of its tribe. He 

 met with them on the sandy liarrens of Ka.st Florida on the St. John's Jfiver 

 early in February, at which period they already had lu'sts. In their habits 

 he regarded them as quite chwely allied to the Creei)ers, ascending the 

 trunks and larger brandies of trees, hopping along the bark searching for 

 conoealed larva-. At one moment it moves sideways along a branch a few 

 steps, then stops and moves in an..ther direction, carefully examining each 

 twjg. It is active and restless, generally searching for insects among the 

 leaves and jjlossoms of the pine, or in the crevices of the bark, hut occiion- 

 ally pui'suing them on the wing. It is found exclusively in low lands, never 

 in mountaiiums districts, and chiefly near the sea. 



Its nest is usually placed at cmisideralile licight, sometimes fifty feet or 



