138 



THE YELLOW WARBLER. 



Nests may be placed at any height in orchard trees or willows, but without 

 doubt the most acceptable nesting site is afforded by the dense swamp thickets 

 of the Carolina rose. In a day's nesting in the Oak Point swamps of Lorain 

 Count)', forty-two occupied nests of eight species were examined by myself 

 and a companion, and of these eleven were Yellow Warbler's. 



The cradle of this bird is an exquisite fabrication. The tough inner bark 

 of certain weeds — called indiscriminately hemp — together with grasses and 

 other fibrous materials in various proportions, is woven into a compact cup 

 about, or settled into, some stout horizontal or ascending fork of bush or tree. 



As a result the 

 bushes are full ol 

 Warblers' nests two 

 or more seasons old. 

 A fleecy lining or 

 mat of plant-down is 

 a more or less con- 

 spicuous feature of 

 every nest. Upon 

 this as a background 

 a scantv horse-hair 

 lining may exhibit 

 every strand ; or, ag 

 I once saw in W^ash- 

 ington, the eggs 

 themselves may be 

 thrown into high re- 

 lief l^y a coiled black 

 mattress. 



The Yellow AVar- 

 bler displays particu- 

 lar ingenuity in ban- 

 ishing the Cowbird's 

 unwelcome egg. Li- 

 stead of deserting 

 the spot the birds 

 place a false bottom 

 across the nest and 

 raise the sides to 

 correspond, — two 

 stories, with the 

 gr()und floor to let. 



Taken at Oak Point. 



Photo hv the Author. 

 AN UNUSUALLY DEF.r NEST. 



Three- and even four-storv nests of this sort have been found. 



