304 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin 



The Blue Jay builds a rather large bulky nest in a tree or thick 

 bush, at a height of six to twenty feet or more. 



Blackburnian Warbler. Dendroica fusca (Mull.) 



It would be hard to decide which is the most beautiful of the 

 wood warblers, but the Blackburnian, one of the smallest of the 

 group, certainly ranks first in brilliance of coloring, with only the 

 Redstart as a close rival. The male possesses a most brilliant orange 

 throat, fading to yellow and finally white underneath, and striped 

 with black along the sides. The upper parts are mainly black with 

 patches of orange on forehead, crown and cheeks, stripes of duller 

 orange in the back and patches of white in the wing and outer 

 feathers of the tail. The female is similar, with a yellow, rather 

 than orange throat, and of a brownish shade where the male is 

 black. 



Wherever there are groups of tall hemlocks in the maple and 

 beech forest one should look and listen for this little Warbler. It 

 is less common there than the other two, the Black-throated Green 

 and Magnolia, and is perhaps more strictly confined to the hemlock, 

 though it wanders occasionally to the tops of the hardwoods. 



The song of this bird is best known by the fine, wiry, extremely 

 high-pitched voice. Often, like the Parula Warbler's, it ascends in 

 pitch toward the end ; but this is not always true, and the finer 

 quality and higher pitch of the " zee zee zee-ee-e-e " will usually 

 distinguish it. 



The nest is built in the branches of a hemlock tree, usually higher 

 than those of the other warblers that make their home in that 

 habitat. 



Wood Pewee. Myiochanes virens (Linn.) 



The Wood Pewee is a little smaller than the English Sparrow. It 

 is dark gray above with prominent wing bars of whitish. The 

 under parts are grayish white somewhat darker across the breast. 



This bird is found in small numbers throughout the forested 

 areas of the Park. It is perhaps a little commoner in oak and 

 chestnut forest but is found in both kinds. It shows a marked 

 preference for the more open woods and its margin, and is not 

 likely to be found where the growth is dense. It lives among the 

 lower limbs of trees, but not in the undergrowth. 



The song of this bird when complete is often written " pee a 

 wee-ee." The three parts are slurred together, the first usually 

 highest in pitch, the second lowest and the last medium. Some- 

 times the bird sings only the first two notes " pee-ah " and again 

 only the last two " ah-wee-ee." The last note is often given a slight 

 upward slur of about half a tone. 



The nest is saddled on a horizontal limb, and is a beautiful 

 structure built of soft materials, lined with bark, and decorated on 

 the outside with lichens. The eggs are marked with irregular 

 blotches on the larger end. 



