170 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



in April and work their way by degrees, northwards, reaching northern 

 United States about the middle of May. During migrations they are 

 generally seen in company with other varieties of Warblers, from 

 which they can usually be distinguished at a distance by their greater 

 activity and their fly-catching habits. On pleasant days they delight in 

 flitting about among the apple trees which are in full bloom at the time 

 of their migration, looking like gleams of gold as they actively clamp- 

 er about among the blossoms, peering under every leaf, balancing and 

 swaying on the tips of leaves, and ever and anon dashing out after a 

 passing insect. Their song is very simple and while they are with us, 

 rarely is more than a single chip to be heard; when the weather is 

 stormy they will usually be found in small shrubby pines where they 

 hunt for food beneath the shelter of the needles, at such times, usually 

 making no sound at all. They are not generally timid and will allow 

 one to approach within a few feet of them or if you are quiet will fre- 

 quently come close to you to see what you are doing. Years ago I 

 found a nest of this species in Maine; in the particular locality where I 

 was, the birds were fairly abundant and in going under a low spreading 

 fir tree, a sharp chipping caused me to stop, and I saw a female Wilson 

 Warbler making off over the ground, apparently with a broken wing. 

 At that time I did not know where these birds built their nests but 

 from the nature of the place concluded that I would probably find it 

 among the lower branches of some of the firs; a long search availing 

 nothing, we retired to a short distance and waited to see what the bird 

 would do. After a great deal of scolding she calmed down and com- 

 menced searching among the branches for food; at last we saw her fly 

 to the ground apparently with something in her bill, and after watching 

 a while longer saw the operation repeated, she going to the same place. 

 When we investigated, we found that beside a leaning stone was a neat 

 little nest imbedded in the moss and within were three little birds 

 about a week old and an unhatched egg. 



Comparatively few of these warblers breed south of the Canadian 

 borders and then only locally; it is probable that a few also breed in 

 the high mountain ranges even as far south as Georgia. They are 

 common in summer in Newfoundland, and abundant in Labrador and 

 about Hudson Bay. 



The bright colored Pileolated Warbler returns in the spring much 

 earlier than the eastern variety and it is probable that many of them 

 winter in southwestern United States. They nest along the Pacific 

 coast and in the Rocky Mountain region from southern California 

 north to Alaska. The majority of nests which have been found of this 

 western black-capped bird have been in bushes only a few inches from 



