PRAIRIE WARBLER. 237 
small hills, from which all the large trees had been cut away, and which are now 
grown up to a thick scrub of hickory, dogwood, and laurel or Kalmia latifolia, with 
here and there a few pines and cedars. Here the birds were found in astonishing 
numbers, and they could be heard singing on all sides. Yellow-breasted Chats were 
also common. On May 22, Mr. Coues found one nest, and on subsequent visits many 
more. The nests, which were easily discovered, were only a few feet from the ground, 
placed preferably in the hickory and dogwood bushes. Only three nests were found in 
young pines and one in a cedar bush. During the heat of the day the birds—the males 
at any rate—seemed to seek the shade of the larger pines bordering the clearing where 
the nests were placed, as he heard many singing from the neighboring woods while 
rambling through the scrub. Of the many nests he describes five very minutely. One 
was evenly placed upright in the triple prong of a low laurel bush, about two and 
one-half feet from the ground. “From among twelve nests, it is the only one symmet- 
rically placed in a crotch, the others being all irregularly supported by twigs either branch- 
ing at varying angles from a main stem, or, as in some cases, coming to the support of 
the nest from a different part of the bush. It is composed chiefly of dandelion-down, in 
which are woven a few thin straws and dry leaves. It is lined with very fine bits of 
straw and a little horsehair.“ The brim is firm and smooth, as is the rule with the nests 
of the Prairie Warbler.” Another nest, placed about five feet from the ground, was 
copiously lined with red cowhair, making a marked color contrast ‘with the other 
materials. A third structure was placed in a mass of grape-vine twigs, about three feet 
from the ground, being composed of silky plant-fibres (perhaps of a species of Asclepias), 
thin shreds of inner cedar bark, and fine grass straws, lined with still finer straws and 
a little horsehair.— Nests in my collection from Massachusetts and Connecticut are built 
exteriorly of fine bark-strips of grape-vines and cedars, feathers and much fern-down, 
lined with fern-down, bristles, and a few feathers. The eggs, usually four, rarely five, in 
number, have a white ground-color, with a very faint tinge of green. The markings 
consist of specks of chestnut and umber, usually in the form of a wreath around the 
larger end. 
NAMES: PrairtE WarBLER, Red-backed Warbler, Parti-colored Warbler, ‘“‘Pasture Warbler,” ‘Wildwood 
Warbler.’’—Fauvette discolore (Fr.). Z 
SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Sylvia discolor Wils. (1807). Sylvicola discolor Jard. (1832), Aud., ete. DEN- 
DROICA DISCOLOR Bairp (1858). 
DESCRIPTION: ‘Above, yellow-olive, the back with a patch of brick-red spots; forehead, line over the eye, 
two wing-bars, and entire under-parts, rich yellow; side of head with a V-shaped black mark, con- 
necting with a chain of black streaks along the whole side of the neck and body; very large white 
tail-blotches occupying, most of the inner web of the outer feathers. Sexes almost exactly alike. 
“Small: Length, 4.75 to 5.00 inches; extent, 7.00; wing, 2.25; tail, 2.00 inches.” . (Stearns and 
Coues.) 
