eaal Wipe, Nesting of the Parula Warbler. 293 
by some Parulas in lining their nests, while others add a few 
horse-hairs and a yellow down which is taken from the stems of 
swamp ferns. The nest is very compact and closely woven, 
occasionally having a few pine-needles stuck into it around 
the outside, probably to help support and pin it to the hanging 
particles of moss. 
The entrance, which is always on a level with the top of the 
bowl, is made through the moss on the side, very often directly 
under the limb where the moss is parted. The walls of the bowl, 
being at least a half an inch in thickness, form a platform which 
is often flattened out resembling a small mat, on which the bird 
rests when entering or leaving the nest. Some nests have two 
or more entrances, either left as peep windows for escape, or 
unintentionally caused by the thinness of the moss above the 
bowl. 
I have examined asfew nests where the entrance was made 
from the top, the nest having been suspended either between two 
twigs or between the trunk of a tree and an adjoining tuft, but 
such cases as these:are rare, and may be considered departures 
from their regular style of building. From over a hundred nests 
of this species, found during the past three years, nearly all were 
partly or entirely roofed over, with the entrances from the sides as 
previously described. 
One nest collected “during May, 1893, was Sigheneied from a 
two inch limb, containing little or no moss, outside of that of 
which the nest was constructed, but this I do not consider a 
typical nest. 
The inside measurements of the nests vary, ranging from about 
one and a half to two inches both in depth and diameter. 
I have watched Parula Warblers enter their nests, and have 
seen both sitting on their eggs and young, by keeping perfectly 
still and quiet in a row-boat, at a distance of not more than from 
three to four feet. 
With very few exceptions, the number of eggs laid is four, 
which show remarkable variation in size and shape. They have 
a white ground color, and are more heavily dotted with reddish 
brown and lilac at the larger ends, often forming a ring round 
them. 
