BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 383 
common, while in others it is very rare. I have no positive 
assurance that it breeds within the State, yet from what I 
know of the history of this bird, I cannot divest myself of the 
expectation that before very long we shall find the nests. It 
is occasionally seen in the last days of August or the first days 
of September, associated with other species, apparently on its 
way southward, from which I conclude the breeding localities 
are not for removed. It has long been observed that the notes 
-of this species very strongly resemble those of the Chestnut- 
sided Warbler (D. pensylvanica (Linn.).) and my own observa- 
tion accords with it, for I am not entirely sure that I have ever 
been able to quite distinguish them, if I have really heard 
those of this finely plumaged species. While with us for 
about ten days (arriving commonly about the 10th or 12th of 
May) they are not very difficult to distinguish by their plum- 
age, and have received attention from many observers. Their 
habits of feeding are very much like those of creepers follow 
ing the trunks and lower branches of large trees to their 
extremeties in search of insects and larve. They invariably 
visit Nicollet island, in the center of Minneapolis, in their 
migrations, and as they are not at all timid, I have had re- 
peated opportunities to observe them there for many years at 
such times. Remarkably gentle, and quietly pre-occupied, 
they take little notice of the presence of ‘‘interviewers,” or 
the impertinence of the police of science or sentiment. Their 
busy satisfied manners, and soft utterances of their e-e-a-e-e-a, as 
they trace their sinuous way up the trunk and out along the 
sturdy limb, impress themselves indelibly upon the memory of 
anyone interested in the life-history of birds. Their nest and 
eggs have been best described by the great field ornithologist, 
Mr. C. J. Maynard, as follows: ‘‘It was placed on the forked 
branch of a low spruce, about three feet from the ground on a 
rising piece of land. leading from a wood path. The nest, 
which contained four eggs, was constructed of dry grass, 
spruce twigs, roots, etc., and was lined with fine black roots, 
the whole being a coarse structure for so dainty looking a 
warbler. The eggs were more spherical than any other 
warbler’s I have ever seen. The ground color is a cream 
white, blotched sparingly over with large spots of lilac and 
umber.” 
Note. In one spring I recall the pleasure I had in frequent 
interviews enjoyed with Mrs. Sara A. Hubbard of Chicago, 
who was visiting her brother, Col. David Blakely, then editor 
