306 WIDMANN, flome of Bachman’s Warbler. ras 
which is fortunately not found in swampland, but the Chipping 
Sparrow is, and, if the presence of the Bachman’s Warbler is not 
suspected, it is indeed possible to mistake its song for a shrill 
variety of the Chippy’s well-known ditty. 
From a ten days’ observation of the Bachman’s Warbler, May 
8 to 17 inclusive, it appears that the bird is very easily overlooked, 
even in a region where it is common. Its small size, its pro- 
tective coloration, and its quiet ways combine to make it next to 
invisible among the heavy foliage of its habitat. The singing 
period is probably of short duration. Visits to neighboring 
islands, on both the Missouri and Arkansas sides, revealed the 
presence of a numl °r of singing males, some with large, others 
with small and pale, throat patches, the former undoubtedly the 
older, the latter the younger individuals. On going over the 
same grounds repeatedly it was noticed that the intensity of their 
singing mood changed greatly ; the old males, that were in a frenzy 
at the time of my arrival, sobered down, while the pale throats 
became gradually conspicuous and excited songsters. The time of 
nest building is probably the period of constant song, but after 
the eggs are deposited the desire for singing becomes so capricious 
that the locating and census-taking of the Bachman population is 
a time-consuming task. 
Even if in song it takes minutes to find the bird, though he is 
generally seated on a dry or thinly-leafed branch at a height of 
twenty to forty feet from the ground. The reason why it is so 
difficult to locate him is his habit of pouring out his song into 
different directions, now to the right, then to the left, even turning 
entirely around on his perch. When he leaves, he is liable to fly 
quite a distance, far enough to get lost out of sight for the 
moment, and in the wildness of his home it takes several minutes 
to follow him over fallen trees and around impenetrable thickets 
or pools of water. 
In spite of my careful watch for eight hours on the gth, no clew 
to the location of the nest was had; the female was seen but twice 
and for seconds only, when the male darted down upon her, from 
his perch in the tree to the brambles below, where he caught hold 
of her, and a short squabble took place. This I took for a sign 
that she was sitting on eggs, for males often attack their mates 
