72 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 6-No. 9. 



Hooded V^arbler. 



Myiodioctes mitratus. 



This beautiful warbler is one of the live- 

 liest of the family. It does not seem to be 

 particularly shy, but extremely restless. 

 Instead of making flights from branch to 

 branch in pursuit of its prey, which it catch- 

 es on the wing, it goes from tree to tree, and 

 is rarely still V\'hile following it by its 

 song, it is heard first here, and then there, 

 and I have followed one hith-r and thither 

 for fifteen or twenty minutes, at least, with- 

 out catching a glimpse of it, and then if it 

 chanced to stop singing it must be given 

 up. They would be very difficult to ob- 

 tain were it not for their warble, which to 

 me is among the sweetest of bird-notes. It 

 usually consists of two or three notes, some- 

 times more and is delivered quickly in very 

 clear, sweet tones. They seldom go above 

 the lower limbs, and are often in bushes 

 and on sticks close to the ground — the mat 

 ter of a perch being the same to them as 

 .to the Flycatchers. 



The locaiities best liked in this section 

 are the densest bottoms, and Mr. Ridgway 

 says they prefer sections where there is 

 cane. Certain it is that they are plentiful 

 opposite Mt. Carmel, in Indiana, where 

 cane grows, but ihey are also common 

 where there is none. This bird has to an 

 ornithologist more than ordinary charms. 



Its difficulty of capture, song and beauty, 

 the black and yellow of the head showing 

 up so beautifully amidst the foliage, gives 

 It few rivals. 



The males and females arrived about the 

 same time during the last week in April, 

 and began to build two or three weeks la- 

 ter. The three nests which I found were 

 all in bushes, about two and a half feet 

 from the ground, composed outwardly of 

 leaves and bark, inside of which is fine 

 bark and stems, and lined with hair. 



But one nest had eggs, and this the fe- 

 male left so quietly that 1 did not see her 

 and had to sit for a short time and await 

 her return. On her beginning to chirp, the 



mate put in an appearance, anxious, also. 

 The eggs were four in number and a cow 

 bird's. They were partly incubated. The 

 eggs of ihis species are subject to great va- 

 riation, but several sets in my possession 

 more nearly resemble the Maryland Yellow- 

 throat, in both size and markings, than 



any other. 



-— — — ♦♦• — ■ — 



Red-headed Woodpeckers 



IN SOUTHERN CONN. 



The most noticeable bird movement re- 

 cently here is the recurrence of the Red- 

 h-eaded Woodpeckers, which are here in old 

 oak groves in great ^numbers, something 

 which has not before occurred since 1872,. 

 when they abounded in the same places. 

 They came as before in September, and are 

 mostly the young of the year without the 

 red head. They make the grove resound 

 with their chatter which resembles the 

 Tree-toad'> song, and their rapping on the 

 branches, dashing from one tree to another 

 and to the ground, and again in the tree- 

 top chasing each other with varied manoeu- 

 vres, making a very pretty sight, with their 

 bright tricolor, red, blick and white, make 

 them very conspicuous. Flying out among 

 the leaves they seize an acorn in their 

 beaks and taking it to some suitable place 

 they secure it in a crotch or crack in a 

 dead branch and hammer it with their 

 beaks till they break the shell and secure 

 the contents, which they swallow piecemeal. 

 I hope they will tarry as they did on the 

 former occasion, through the winter, and 

 some tarried and nested here in the spring. 

 Besides these two occasions I have never 

 observed them here excei)t single speci- 

 mens on their migration, and then very 

 rarely. I know there are places where the 

 bird is an abundant summer resident, but 

 I always understood not in any part of 

 New England, and it is an interesting 

 question with me, whence these sudden in- 

 fluxes came and what vagaries caused them'' 

 — J. N. Clark, Saybrook, Conn. 



Southwick & Jencks' new catalogue is out. 



