100 



THE OOLOGIST 



tingdon County, Pennsylvania, I 

 chanced to hear several Golden-wing- 

 ed Warblers as they sang from the 

 tops of small trees bordering on open 

 briery spaces of ground, at the base 

 of a mountain ridge. As later May 

 approached I decided to investigate 

 these places in hope of discovering a 

 nest that I might photograph. 



On May 24th, I decided to search 

 over the space of ground, about an 

 acre in extent, at which I had heard 

 the first Golden-winged Warbler sing- 

 ing. The day was warm and fair, and 

 as I approached the place I hoped to 

 hear the Male Golden-wing singing, 

 but he was not to be heard on this 

 day. 



I began at the top of this space of 

 ground and searched carefully all the 

 clumps of briers, weeds and grasses. 

 I had gone over the whole space 

 pretty carefully when I finally reached 

 a low, damp patch of grass and briers. 

 There nestled in a clump of green 

 wiry grass lay the nest. It was made 

 of dry Oak leaves, well lined with fine 

 strips of bark. Several blackberry 

 brier stalks supported it. At this 

 time it held three fresh eggs. I at 

 once left the vicinity and returned 

 three days later when I flushed the 

 female from the five fresh eggs and 

 secured an excellent photograph of 

 the nest and eggs in situation. 



After finding the first nest I search- 

 ed over a space of ground about one- 

 half mile away and located a second 

 nest which held two fresh eggs. This 

 nest was built in a short clump of 

 weeds by a bunch of blackberry briers 

 and was about ten feet from the 

 mountain road. The finding of the 

 preceeding nests acted as a stimulus 

 for further searching, so walked to an 

 extensive space two miles distant 

 and part way up a gently sloping 

 mountain side. Here I could hear a 

 Golden-wing singing from the top of 



a small tree that stood at the road- 

 side. There were a great many weedy 

 patches growing from damp, springy 

 places and among these I searched 

 for some time. Finally I located a. 

 nest in a clump of tall weeds in a 

 wet place, by the border of the woods. 

 The female was sitting and flushed 

 upon my coming near, revealing five 

 well marked eggs all fresh. She was 

 anxious at my presence ana Kept up 

 a continual chipping. 



Several days later a friend and I 

 returned to this place and discovered 

 two more nests. The first, which my 

 friend found, was located in a bunch 

 of grass by a clump of alder bushes; 

 it held five young birds. This was 

 the 30th day of May and a time «tr 

 expect young birds. I found a nest 

 built in a clump of ironweeds at the 

 woodside. The female flitted from 

 five heavily spotted eggs as I ap- 

 proached. 



Farther down the valley I found 

 another nest built six inches alsove 

 the ground in a clump of raspberry 

 briers that grew in a slight open 

 space near the border of the woods. 

 The female bird did not sit so close- 

 ly here but left while I was some dis- 

 tance away. This nest held five well 

 spotted eggs, which were slightly in- 

 cubated. 



At several other suitable open 

 spaces at the base of the mountains 

 I heard Golden-wings singing. How- 

 ever, these places were so extensive 

 that a thorough search would require 

 a great deal of time. 



While the female Warblers are in- 

 cubating the males spend a great 

 deal of their time flitting about the 

 tops of small trees uttering their faint 

 dreamy songs. However, they seldom 

 sing on dark, cloudy days but seem 

 to prefer the sunshine for their music. 

 Waynesburg, Pa. S. S. Dickey. 



