20 



THE OOLOGIST. 



tliat it was a "Worm-eating Warbler. I 

 was confidaut that it had a nest near, as it 

 exliibited great solicitude. I therefore as- 

 cended the hill a few steps, sat down and 

 waited. In a short time the female flew 

 to the ground within a few yards of me and 

 disappeared among the leaves. I at once 

 went to the spot and found a nest contain- 

 ing five young which 1 judged were about 

 a week old. When I came near the nest 

 the female ran from it, feigning lameness, 

 and acting almost as a Golden-crowned 

 Thrush would under similar circumstances. 



The next day I found another on the side 

 of the mountain within a few yards of the 

 valley bottom. The following extract from 

 notes made on the spot may prove interest- 

 ing : " I am sitting within two feet of the 

 nest of a Worm-eating Warbler. The fe- 

 male is exhibiting great solicitude, frequent- 

 ly alighting within two or three feet of me 

 while she keeps up a continuous chirping. 

 The male does not venture so near, but al- 

 so appears uneasy. A moment ago I placed 

 my hand in the nest, when the female a- 

 lighted within ten inches of it. She did 

 not raise the feathers of her head, nor show 

 other signs of fear or anger, but only ap- 

 peared solicitous for the safety of the young, 

 of which there was but a single one, evi- 

 dently about one third grown." 



Both of these nests were clumsily con- 

 structed affairs, built of leaves and lined 

 with pine needles. They were placed on 

 the ground, among the fallen leaves of the 

 previous autumn, without the slightest at- 

 tempt at concealment ; which was in per- 

 fect keeping with the unsuspicious habits 

 of the birds as recorded above. The nests 

 were almost as large as those of the Gol- 

 den-crowned Thrush. I afterward saw sev- 

 eral pairs which behaved in much the same 

 manner, and although I was certain that I 

 could find many nests I did not take the 

 trouble as I knew they all contained young. 



The proper time to look for eggs is dur- 

 ing the first week in June, when I have 

 but little doubt that quantities may be taken 

 along the valleys of central Pennsylvania. 



The following is a description of the eggs* 



copied from Birds of Florida. "Eggs: 

 Rather elliptical in form, spotted and dot- 

 ted with reddish-brown, but more thickly 

 on the larger end. Dimensions of a single 

 egg in the collection of Mr. Ruthven Deane 

 of Cambridge, .73 by .56." This is one 

 of the eggs found by Mr. Batty. 



Black-and-white Creeper, 



(^Mniotilta varla.) 



This is a rather common summer inhab- 

 itant of all New England , but more com- 

 mon in the migrations than in the breeding 

 season. It arrives here (near Boston) 

 about the last week of April, when it is 

 seen running up the trunks and larger limbs 

 of trees, seeking its food, which consists of 

 insects and their eggs. 



They commence building by the last 

 week in May. The nest is built in the 

 woods, generally at the base of a rock, or 

 fallen tree {I'arely^ in the hole of a tree). 



A nest I found this year, on the the 22d 

 of June, was placed at the base of a large 

 rock, and was built of leaves, grasses, and 

 strips of grape vine, and was lined with 

 horse hair. The eggs were five in number, 

 their color white with a creamy tin'^'e, and 

 were covered with spots and blotches of 

 reddish brown, thickest at the larger end. 

 The eggs average about .65 by .55 of an 

 inch. 



About the 10th of September they start 

 for the south, and by the 20th of that month 

 none are to be seen. Wm. L. Giieen. 



Longtoood^ July^ 1877. 



The above account of the nest of this bird 

 confirms the statement of Nuttall, who says 

 a nest found by him, was "nitched in the 

 shelving of a rock, on the surface of the 

 ground." Dr. Brewer also says that in his 

 experience, it has always been found to 

 nest on the ground, which is evidently al- 

 most unexceptionably the case. 



*See cut of egg in outlme, Vol, I, No. 5.-Eds. 



