SYhVICOLID.K — TFIE VVARHI-KUS. 277 



])luniiijj;i!, auine not liaviiii,' rlmii^'i'd liy A]iril to tlicir siiiiunor cDstunu'. Ih; 

 ro^'uriletl tlieiii ii8 coiisliiut lusiilents of those isluiuls. Tliuy Inul all piiiicil 

 oir l»y tliu middle of Ainil. 



In tlui isliiiul (if St. ( 'ruix, Mr. Kdwiinl Xcwton obsorvod tlicao Wiirlilcrs from 

 tlio Idtli of Si'ptciiiliur to tliu JTtli of Miirc'li. Tliuy weiu invwcnt on the ishiiul 

 about two tliii'ds of tlie year, luid while they were found were very coiutuou. 



In Jaumicii, aceordinj; to Mr. IVrardi, they are numerous throuj,'hout the 

 entire year, tJKaigli le.ss aliundant (hniiij,' tlie summer months. Tiiey were 

 always i)lentiful in the yaitlei s about the JiLilpi'i/hid (jhihni, eapturiny small 

 inseets from the ripe fruit. 



Mr. Gosse, on the contrary, regarded it as ordy a winter visitant of that 

 island, apiKMrini,' by tlie IHtii of August, and di.saiiiiearing by the 1 Itli of 

 April. He observed them among low bushes and herliaeeous weeils, along 

 the roadside, near the grouml, examining every stalk and twig for inseets. 

 Others Hew from busiies by the wayside to the middle of the road, where, 

 hovering in the air, a lew fecit from the ground, they seemed to lie catching 

 small dijiterous insects. Their stomachs were fdled with fragments of insects. 



Wilson found them usually in open plains and thinly wooded tracts, search- 

 ing most leisurely anu)ng the foliage, carefully examining every leaf or blade 

 of grass for insects, uttering, at short intervals, a brief vhirr. They did not 

 a])pcar to be easily ahirmed, and he has known one of these birds to remain 

 half an hour at a time on the lower branch of a tree, and allow him to ap- 

 proach the foot, without being in the least disturbed. He found their food 

 consisted of winged inseets and small caterpillars. 



In 1858, Mr. John Cassin wrote me : " The Prairie Warbler certainly 

 breeds in New Jersey, near Philadeliihia. I have seen it all summer for the 

 last twelve years, and have seen the young just able to lly, but ncn-er found 

 the nest. It has a very peculiar note, which 1 know as well as I do the Cat- 

 bird's, having often followed and searched it out. It frequents cedar-trees, 

 and I suspect breeds in and about them." 



Dr. Cones found the I'rairie AN'arbler mostly a spriu;,' aud ui'fumn visitant 

 in the vicinity of AVashington, being ((uite abundant during those seasons. 

 A few were observed to remain during the breeding-season. They arrive 

 earlier than most of this family of birds, or about tlie 2{A\\ of April. He 

 found them frequenting, almost excluijively, ci'dar-]iatches and pine-trees, and 

 speaks of their having very ])eculiar manners and notes. 



Both Wilson and Audubon were evidently at fault in their doi-^criptions of 

 the nest and eggs. These do not correspond with more recent iuul ]»ositive 

 observations. Its nest is never pensile. Mir. Xuttall's descrii)tions, on the 

 other hand, are made from his own observations, and are evidently corn-ct. 

 Ho describes a nest that came under his obse|vation as scarcely distinguish- 

 able from that of the D. (estiva. It was not ])ensile, but fixed in a forked 

 branch, and formed of strips of the inner bark of the red cedar, fibres of ascle- 

 pia, and caterpillars' silk, and thickly lined with the down of the Gnajjhaiitm 



