128 LAND-BIKDS. 



ground, feed more upon berries, sometimes those of house- 

 vines, and show a greater liking for hedge-rows and like 

 places, where they often associate with the "Yellow Red- 

 polls " or with the Sparrows. They may generally be dis- 

 tinguished at a distance by their habit of being much in the 

 air, and of taking long flights (as compared with those of 

 other Warblers) at quite a height above the ground. 



d. The " Yellow-rumps " have a soft chip, and aloud check 

 or chuch (which sometimes is softened to cJiup). I have often 

 heard them sing in May, throughout the day, much like the 

 Purple Finch, but without the richness, f uUness, continuity, or 

 melodiousness of that bird's music, especially if heard from 

 a near standpoint. This song is often varied, and sometimes 

 has reminded me of certain of the Maryland Yellow-throats' 

 notes. In October I have once or twice heard the " Yellow- 

 rumps " utter a warble, which was soft, sweet, and very rich. 



M. MACULOSA. Black and Yellow Warbler. '■'■Magnolia 

 Warbler." A rather rare migrant through Massachusetts.* 



a. About five inches long. Dark above. Sump, yellow. 

 Crown, ashy (blue?). Forehead and a broad bar through 

 the eye, black. Under parts, yellow ; breast, black-streaked. 



Wing-patch, etc., white. $ , with head-markings and streaks 

 less distinct. 



b. The nest is usually built in a low spruce, often near a 

 path through the woods, three or four feet from the ground, 

 and is finished in the first week of June. (A second is some- 

 times built about the first of July.) It is composed outwardly 

 of pine needles, hemlock twigs, or the like, and is lined with 

 horsehairs or the black fibres of a certain moss. The eggs 

 average .63 X -50 of an inch, and are white, with lilac and 

 brown, or umber brown, markings, often forming a ring about 

 the crown. Some eggs of this species that I found in north- 

 ern New Hampshire are clouded at the larger end with obscure 



* A late spring and early autumn of Worcester and Berkshire counties, 

 migrant through southern New Eng- Massachusetts, and throughout north- 

 land, often common and at times abun- em New England. — W. B. 

 dant. It breeds plentifully in portions 



