27(1 NoilTII AMEIilCAN Hl'ltDS. 



murt'. from the tiTdiiiid, iiiid is usiuilly i'ask'iiecl to tlie twij^rs of a .small In'aiiuli. 

 In Massiicliu.sctt.s it lias hut a siii^lo brood in a season, hut at the South 

 it is said to have tlnvc. 



The iliii'Iit of tliis Warlilcr is sliort, and exhihits uiidulatiuj^ curves of yreat 

 elej^ance. Its son^' is deserihed as monotonous, consislinL; merely of coutin- 

 lujus and tri'nmlous sounds. 'Slv. Auduhon found none lieyond New Bruns- 

 wicic, and it lias never liec i found in \ova Scotia so far as I am aware. 



Botli old and younjj; hinls remain in Massac-husetts until late in October, 

 and occasionally liirds are seen as far to tiie north as I'liiladelpliia in mid- 

 winter. At this scasmi they abound in the ])ine forests of tlie Soutlici'u Slates, 

 where they are at tliat time the most numerous of the Warblers, and wliere 

 some are to lie found thronj^hout the year. 



In tlie summer their food consists of the larva' and ejigs of certain kinds 

 of in.sects. In the autumn they freijuiiut the Southern gardens, feeding' on 

 the berries of the cornel, the box .i.iTa])e, and other small fruit. Mr. Xuttall 

 states that their song is cleticient both in compass and in variety, though not 

 disagreeable. At times, he states, it ap]iroaches the simiiler trills of the 

 canary; but is usually a reverberating, gently rising or murmuring sound like 

 cy-r-r'i'i'r'r'-tih, or in the .s])ringtinie like fur tur-tir fir tir-tir tir, and some- 

 times like fx/i-fs/i-fs/i-fir-fir-fir-/ii\ e.xhiiiiting a pleasing variety in its ca- 

 dences. The note of the female is not unlike that of the Black and White 

 Creeper. 



On the Ttli of June, Mr. Xuttall discovered a nest of this Warbler in a Vir- 

 ginia junipcr-trec in Mount Aul)urn, some forty feet from the ground, and 

 iirmly Hxed in the upright twigs of a do.se iiranch. It was a thin but very 

 neat structure. Its jirineipal material was the old and wiry stems of tlie 

 Pulj/gonuiH tcuiir, or i<not-weed. These wi're circularly interlaced and inter- 

 wound with rough linty fibres of asclepias and caterpillare' webs. It was 

 lined with a lew bristles, slender root-fibres, a mat of tiie down of fern-stalks, 

 and a few feathers. Mr. Xuttall saw .severiil of these nests, all made in a 

 similar manner. The eggs in tlu^ nest described were four, and far advanced 

 towards hatching. They were white, with a slight tinge of green, and were 

 freely sprinkled with .small pale-lirown spots, most numerous at the larger 

 end, where they were aggregated on a more jmrplish ground. The female 

 maile some slight complaint, but immediately returned to the nest, thougli 

 two of the eggs had been taken. 



Mr. Xuttall kept a male of tliis sjiecies in confinement. It at once be- 

 came very tame, fed gratefully from the hand, from the moment it was 

 caught, on flies, small earthworms, and minced flesh, and would sit con- 

 tentedly on any hand, walking directly into a dish of water offered for drink, 

 without any precautions, or any signs of fear. 



Mr. J. (). Sliute found a nest of these Warblers in Woburn as early as 

 May 8. It contained four eggs, the incubation of which had commenced. 

 Three other uests were also found by him in the same locality, all of them 



