10 



THE OOLOGIST. 



Black-throated Green Warbler. 



This bird is quite common in the pine 

 and cedar groves of New York, where it 

 nests not uncommonly. The only nest 

 found in this portion of the state of which 

 I am cognizant, was found about four miles 

 from Utica, in June, 1874. It was situ- 

 ated in a large, thick, elevated wood, most- 

 ly of young trees, and was placed in the 

 crotch of a small moss-covered elm, not 

 more than ten or twelve feet from the 

 ground. Its build was loose and not at all 

 as handsome and elegant as some other 

 Warblers' nests I have found. It was made 

 of fine twigs of the hemlock, fibrous roots, and 

 a few dried weed-stems, interwoven with 

 bits of birch bark and slender grasses. The 

 lining was of hair and very fine twigs. The 

 depth was not more than f of an inch, di- 

 ameter about 2^ inches. There was scarce- 

 ly any attachment to the limbs on which it 

 was placed, and I wondered it covdd with- 

 stand the weather. Before climbing to the 

 nest, I endeavored to obtain a glimpse of 

 the bird, but she was shy and flew off 

 through the trees, returning however with 

 feigned helplessness, when I shot her. The 

 eggs, which were three in number, (the 

 nest also contained an egg of the Cow Bird) 

 before being blown exhibited a faint pink- 

 ish color. T'wo of them were rather thick- 

 ly spotted and dotted with umber and lilac, 

 confluent about the large end. The third 

 was very finely spotted with lilac over the 

 entire shell. In shape they were regularly 

 oval, and measured .68 by .50 inch. In- 

 cubation had not begun, and had the nest 

 not been disturbed probably another egg 

 would have been added to the set. 



A nest of this bii-d found in Massachu- 

 setts by Mr. Welch is described as being 

 composed of "fine twigs in small bits, 

 then of various soft, pliant, fibrous sub- 

 stances, composing the bulk of the nest, and 

 lined with fine grasses and rootlets. The 

 substance contains also a few feathers 



and some downy material." The eggs of 

 this nest measured .72 by . 54 of an inch. 

 Mr. Samuels says that the nest is usually 

 constructed of fine grasses, fibrous roots, 

 fine strips of cedar bark and pine leaves, 

 and further says they are ' ' entwined to- 

 gether strongly and neatly," Avhich it will 

 be seen, does not exactly correspond with 

 the nest first described. Nuttall's descrip- 

 tion agrees with that given above, but the 

 nest was placed lower down and in a jimiper 

 bush. 



This bird seems to prefer thick, upland 

 forests, particularly of hemlock and pine, 

 where it obtains a subsistence of insects 

 such as it particularly favors. In the Mid- 

 dle States it arrives the first part of May, 

 commences building between the first and 

 tenth of June, and by the middle or latter 

 part of that mouth has full sets of eggs. 

 They use various devices to attract atten- 

 tion from the nest, such as flying helplessly 

 from twig to twig, fluttering along the 

 ground, and sometimes uttering distressing 

 cries. The female is not easily identified 

 a short distance away, as she is constantly 

 flitting about, and being similar to the fe- 

 males of some other Warblers, is ordinari- 

 ly difficult to distinguish. Avrs. 



Nesting of thk Black-throated Blue 

 Warbler in New York. — While descend- 

 ing the West Canada Creek in Herkimer 

 County, along the bluif which forms the 

 east bank, we struck a knoll elevated con- 

 siderably above the adjacent hill, and which 

 was thickly covered with small bushes and 

 studded with a few oak trees. Naturally 

 our attention was drawn to these bushes 

 and to the moss and fine vegetation cover- 

 ing the ground. While examining a brier- 

 entwined shrub, we were attracted by the 

 passing of a small object. Hastening to 

 the spot whence it apparently came, we in- 

 spected the bushes and small vegetation for 

 nearly half an hour, but without success, 

 and were about giving it up when a bird 

 flew with a moth in its bill, into a stunted 

 scrubby oak near the edge of the bluff. 



