104 Faxon, Summer Birds of Berkshire County, Mass. [April 
in the edge of the clearing on the summit of Graylock. Especially abundant 
where the forest has been cut on the south side of the ‘Bellows-Pipe’ in 
Adams. Wherever the land has been recently cleared, but not appro- 
priated for pasturage or tillage, the Mourning Warbler is found, the 
most characteristic tenant of the dense ‘sprout growth’ that forms the 
vanguard of the succeeding forest. By widening the domain of this 
lovely bird the wood-cutter atones, in a measure, for the destruction he 
causes. The voice of the Mourning Warbler is full. The song that I 
most often heard resembles the syllables ¢hzs-ree, thir-ree, thur-ree (some- 
times the repetition was four times instead of three). A refrain consisting 
of three notes, with the accent upon the last, or of two notes with a strong 
accent on the first, the voice falling on the second, was sometimes ap- 
pended. At other times the form of the song was quite different, con- 
sisting of but five notes, the penultimate note strongly accented, the last 
pitched on a lower key. The last two notes together are equal in time to 
one of the first three. Something in the mode of delivery of the latter 
song suggests the song of the Water-Thrush, as Mr. Maynard* has 
observed. As far asI could determine, the same bird always followed 
one score. The Mourning Warbler, like the Golden-crowned Thrush, or 
its nearer relative, the Maryland Yellow-throat, is much given to an 
ecstatic aérial song that defies description. On the first of July I dis- 
covered a nest of this bird. It contained four young birds. On the 
seventh the young had flown and the nest was secured. It was placed 
about ten inches from the ground ina clump of young beech saplings. 
The body of the nest is composed of strips of bark and dry leaves, with a 
lining of fine black roots and horse hair. Many dead leaves are fastened 
to the outside. But slightly attached to the saplings the nest rests upon 
a loose platform of dry spruce twigs. The inside diameter is about two 
inches. Of large size and slovenly construction the nest is not a very 
creditable specimen of Mniotiltine architecture. 
61. Geothlypis trichas. MARYLAND YELLOW-THROAT.—NoOt rare, but 
not so abundant as G. philadelphia. Found to some extent in the same 
localities with the latter, but oftener at a lower level and in more culti- 
vated country. 
62. Icteria virens. YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT.—I was somewhat sur- 
prised to find a pair of Chats near the North Adams Reservoir (altitude, 
about 1080 feet), within half a mile of Hermit Thrushes, Black-and-yellow, 
Black-throated Blue, and Canadian Warblers, and Snowbirds, at the same 
elevation. 
63. Sylvania canadensis. CANADIAN WARBLER.—Rather common on 
the Saddle-Back Mountains, breeding as high as the summit of Graylock. 
The lowest level at which it was observed was about 1000 feet above sea- 
level, near the cascade on Notch Brook, North Adams. 
64. Setophaga ruticilla. AMERICAN REDSTART. — Not very common, 
and not found far up on the mountains. Much less abundant than in 
Eastern Massachusetts. 
* Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., XIV, 362. 
