10 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



along the Allegheny river, and in many places they seemed to 

 be equally abundant with the Yellowthroats. In a large clear- 

 ing or "slashing" about three miles up Morrison's run we 

 heard at least six different males singing, each in his own 

 special territory. Many hours of systematic search failed to 

 locate a nest here, although we must often have been very near 

 to one, as the singing bird simply shifted around from one 

 bush to another within a radius of a few rods. 



Between times we found interest in watching a colony of 

 Chimney Swifts flying in and out of the top of a huge hollow 

 pine that had been broken off about forty feet from the ground. 

 In this same clearing a noisy brood of Hairy Woodpeckers had 

 left their nest, and were creeping around over the home tree. 

 A Pileated Woodpecker was calling from the near-by timber. 

 An Olive-sided Flycatcher was busy carrying twigs, broken 

 from a dead hemlock near by, to a group of smaller hemlocks 

 in the middle of the slashing. With a field-glass we could see 

 her carefully arranging them in nest form on a lower, horizon- 

 tal limb, and frequentlj^ uttering her peculiar call in answer to 

 that of the male which perched on the top of a tall dead tree 

 near by, making frequent excursions after insects. 



The first nest of the Mourning Warbler that we located was on a 

 bunch of ferns in an open space in the woods, close beside the 

 stream. We saw and heard the birds there frequently, but it was 

 not completed, and was possibly abandoned because of our fre- 

 quent presence in the vicinity. Another nest with one egg was 

 found on the edge of the cemetery in a clump of briars. It was 

 placed very close to the ground, and though we watched for the 

 bird each time we were near the nest, only at the last visit did 

 we get a sight of her sufficient to make her identity sure. The 

 nest still contained but a single egg, apparently well incubated. 



About a mile below the town, and close beside the river, 

 there is a grove of scattering trees covering perhaps six to eight 

 acres of lowland that is subject to overflow at times. Over this 

 entire tract there is a dense growth of nettles, briars, and a 

 variety of rank weeds that covered the ground from two to three 

 feet deep. Two pairs of Mourning Warblers were known to be 

 located somewhere in this jungle, although on that morning, 



