Plate XX. 



ICTERIA VIRENS-Yellow'breasted Chat 



Early in May, a singular sound may be heard in the woods, especially in the southern portion of 

 the State. It is a mellow whistle rapidly uttered in cadence six or seven times, and after a short in- 

 terval repeated perhaps with variations. It is a sound not easily described, though readily imitated. 

 The listener who hears it for the first time, will be puzzled to know the cause, so spirit-like it seems to 

 move about. First it may come from the bushes upon the left; then from the tree-top upon the right; 

 then from behind close by; and then immediately it may come from a distance in tlie thicket in front; 

 when suddenly from the tall tree oveidiead a curious bird launches into the air, and, as if his wino-s 



7 7 " O " 



were disjointed, flaps them slowly, almost striking them, first above and then below, uttering, as he tum- 

 bles to the opposite tree, the same ventriloquous sounds that at first deceived the ear. This is the male 

 Yellow-breasted Chat. The clownish actions and peculiar whistles are his best endeavors to please his 

 chosen partner, who, concealed in the thick foliage, admiringly watches his queer antics. After ovi- 

 position is completed the male ceases his courting melody and his droll flight from tree to tree, but still 

 continues his varied song at intervals throughout the day from some perch near by the nest. The young 

 are usually all hatched by the 15th of June. In 1879 I found a nest on the 16th of May, which 

 contained a full complement of eggs partly incubated. This pair probably arrived the last week in April. 

 But one brood is reared during the season. 



LOCALITT: 



Thickets in upland woods are the favorite resorts of the Chat. The nest is sometimes placed in 

 the depth of the forest, but generally it is built about the outskirts, or in some narroAv belt of timber; 

 for being very susceptible to cold these birds like a southern or eastern exposure, or an open spot in the 

 forest, where, though the nest is concealed by a thicket, they are not deprived of the sun's warm ravs. 

 Young black-haws, hazel, briers, and other young trees and bushes furnish the usual nesting sites. 



• 

 POSITION : 



Usually the nest is supported by a number of perpendicular stems or branches, but sometimes it is 

 built in an upright fork. Its distance from the ground is generally about three feet; rarely it is eioht 

 or ten feet high in the top-branches of a young tree. 



MATERIALS : 



The foundation and superstructure of the nest consist of pieces of weed-stems, long pieces of some 

 trailing vine, dried and skeletonized leaves, and occasionally grape-vine bark and coarse blades of grass ; 

 these are loosely and indiscriminately arranged in the selected position, and lined with pieces of slender 

 vine, having a gray, brown, or pinkish color, to which is sometimes added fine weed-stems or roller- 

 grass. The exterior of the structure is unfinished in appearance and irregular in outline, and even the 



