WOEM-EATING WARBLER. 

 Helmitherus vermivorus (Gm.) Bp. 



"WoxTn-eating AVarbler- 



Sylvia vermivora, Kirtland, Ohio Geolog. Surv., 183-i, 163, 182. 



Belinaia vermivora, Audubon, ii, 1841, 86. 



Vermivora pennsylvanica, Rv,AJ>, Proo. Aoad. Nat. Sci. Philad., vi, 1853, 39.>. 



Selmitherua vermivorus, Whbaton, Ohio Agrio. Bep. for 1860, 363; Reprint, 1661,5; 



Pood of Birds, etc., OhioAgri. ivep. for 1874, 563; Reprint, 1875, 3. — Baird, Bkewer, 



and RiDGWAY, N. A. Birds, i, 1874, 188. — Langdon, Cat. Birds of (Jin., 1877,5; Jour. 



Gin. Soo. Nat. Hist., 1,1878, 112 ; Reprint, 3 ; Revised List, Jour. Cin. Soo. Nat. Hist., 



1, 1879, 171 ; Reprint, 5.— Jordan, Man. Vert., 1878, 60. 



MotacAlla vermivora, Gmblin, Syst. Nat., 1, 1788, 95. 



Sylvia vermivora, Latham, Ind. Orn., ii, 1790, 544. 



Vermivora pennsylvanica, " Swainson," Bonaparte, List, 183H, 20. 



Helmilheros vermivora, Bonaparte, Consp. Av., i, 1850, 314. 



Selmitherua vermivorus, Baird, Birds N. A. 1858, 252. 



Above olive, below bufify, paler or whitish on the belly; head bnS, with four sharp 

 black stripes, two along sides of crown from bill to nape, one along each side of head 

 through the eye ; wings and tail olivaceous, unmarked. Bill and feet pale. Length 

 5i; wingSf; tail 2. 



Habitat, Eastern United States ; north to Connecticut Valley, casnally to Maine ; west 

 to Missouri, Kansas, and Indian Territory ; south in winter to Florida, Cuba, Jamaica, 

 Mexico, Central America. 



Rare summer resident. Arrives the last week in April and departs in 

 August. Of the Worm-eating Warbler, there is little to be said. Dur- 

 ing its spring migration it is sometimes seen in low woodlands, generally 

 on the ground searching for food. When disturbed its flics to the lower 

 branches of a tree and remains silent and quiet, much as a Thrush. 

 Their favorite breeding places are solitary ravines or glens near water, 

 usually where ferns and moss abound. When at home they may be 

 seen scratching the leaves on the ground, or rustling the leaves of a 

 fallen tree in sedrch of worms and spiders. Sometimes they mount to 

 the higher branches where their actions are much those of the Vireos. 

 On the ground, or on the lower limbs of trees, they walk, and their appear- 

 ance is much that of the Water Thrushes, except the tipping of the tail. 

 They are rather unsuspicious and silent, the only note I have ever heard 

 was a rather sharp ' chip.' 



The nest is placed on the ground in a depression of a hillside or beside 

 a fallen log. It is composed of leaves and lined with moss The eggs 

 are four, white, rather sparsely dotted with reddish-brown, and measure 

 about .74 by .62. 



The young in first plumage are described by Mr. Ridgway (Bull., iii, 

 1878, 23,) as being of a buflf color, with two badly defined stripes of gray- 

 ish-brown on the head and a narrow streak of the same behind the eye. 

 Primaries and their coverts, and tail feathers, as in the adult. 

 16 



