Sept. 1884.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



Ill 



Curious Nest of the Warbling Vireo. 



All Oologists are acquainted with the or- 

 dinary form of this Vireo's nest. It is in- 

 teresting to know that the bird sometimes 

 departs from the usual manner of build- 

 ing, and, incited probably by the spirit of 

 progress, puts a roof on its house. The 

 fact that there was such a nest in existence 

 coming to my knowledge, I wrote to the 

 possessor, Mr. H. M. Griswold of Tam- 

 pico, 111., and received the following reply: 

 " I found the nest about two years ago 

 while looking for Indigo Birds. As I 

 passed along a row of soft Maples, I was 

 attracted by the harsh, rasping sound, 

 which the Warbling Vireo gives when dis- 

 turbed. After looking about for some 

 time, I saw a large bull snake, about three 

 feet long, twined around a limb, some ten 

 feet from the ground. A charge of shot 

 brought down the snake with a live bird 

 in its mouth, which it released as it fell. 

 As the bird was strong and nearly full- 

 grown, I climbed to where I could reach 

 the nest, which was hanging from the ex- 

 treme end of a long limb, and replaced it. 

 After the bird had flown, I took the nest, 

 which I send you by to-day's mail." 



The description of the nest is as fol- 

 lows : Outside diameter, three and one- 

 quarter inches by two and one-half inches 

 deep ; cavity inside, two inches by one 

 and one-half inches deep. The materials 

 are of the ordinary sort, but very strongly 

 put together. The nest is joined to a 

 limb three-fourths of an inch in diameter 

 by two sets of threads, and to a very 

 small branch along its rim, being thus 

 suspended in the crotch of the limb and 

 the branch. At the end of the little 

 branch, which is not quite three inches 

 long, the fibres that twist in and out to 

 form the rim of the nest are gathered to- 

 gether, given a half turn, and then spread 

 out like a fan, the intervening space being 

 filled in closely with fine threads, making 

 a cover just the size of the nest. This 



cover is hollowed upward about an inch, 

 so as to be like a shallow cup inverted 

 over the nest. The connecting threads 

 act like a hinge and join the cover to the 

 nest on the side away from the larger 

 limb. A bird standing on the limb could 

 lift the cover and it would fall again of its 

 own weight as soon as the bird had passed 

 under. Such a cover would screen the 

 contained birds or eggs from the sight of 

 passing birds of prey and furnish a very 

 thorough iirotection from wind and rain. 

 The query is, had the snake ever been up 

 there before, as would seem to be indi- 

 ted by there being but one young bird, 

 and was the cover intended as a defense 

 against him ? — W. W. Cooke. 



Two Connecticut Rarities. 



Although I have been in the fields but 

 little this season, I have been fortunate 

 enough to come across two birds' nests 

 that I had never found before, although 

 the birds were old acquaintances. I think 

 them rare enough to be worth notice. 



The first find was on June 15th, when, 

 seated on a fence at the edge of a piece 

 of swampy woods, a friend and I were 

 watching a pair of Chestnut-sided War- 

 blers that were flitting about in a tree 

 overhead, in hopes that they would betray 

 their nest. Suddenly we heard a sharp 

 " chip " close by, and on looking around 

 saw a little bird hopping along a twig of a 

 barberry bush with an insect in its mouth. 

 The Chestnut-sides were at once forgot- 

 ten ; for within a rod of us was a Blue- 

 winged Yellow Warbler, {Hdminthophaga 

 pinus. Its mate was close by, and both 

 being uneasy at our presence, kept uj) 

 their single note of alarm. 



For some time we sat motionless, look- 

 ing at them, and they uneasily moving 

 from bush to bush, not daring to go to the 

 nest while two such suspicious looking 

 characters were near. It was a trial of 

 patience and the birds were beaten. The 

 female (distinguished only by the insect 



