WAKBLEES. 85 



5. The nest is usually placed on the ground, — almost in- 

 variably beside a brook or in a swamp, but occasionally in a 

 thicket or briar. It is composed of (leaves), fine grasses, etb., 

 is often lined with hairs, and is sometimes roofed. The eggs 

 average .70 X .55 of an inch, and are white, sometimes with 

 no markings, but commonly with a few reddish brown blotches 

 about the greater end, or with a ring about the crown of fine 

 reddish brown and lilac markings, or with numerous spots and 

 blotches of the same colors distributed over the entire sur- 

 face. They vary greatly in coloration, but the ground-color is 

 always (?) white, and is not usually much marked. In all 

 parts of New England two sets of these eggs are laid annually, 

 as a rule, in Massachusetts, the first generally appearing in the 

 last week of May. 



c. The Maryland " Yellow-throats " are probably (on an 

 average, throughout New England) the most abundant of our 

 Warblers in summer, and in certain parts of Maine and New 

 Hampshire are nearly the most common birds. They come to 

 Massachusetts, from their southern winter homes, in the first 

 or second week of May, and do not altogether leave it before 

 October. On their arrival, before retiring to the places where 

 they build their nests, they spend much of their time in trees, 

 often those on cultivated estates ; but, later in the season, they 

 betake themselves to swamps, thickets, and bushes along the 

 roadsides, and are then seen chiefly on or near the ground. 

 They constantly move their tails, both when on the ground, 

 and when hopping from twig to twig, for they rarely take 

 other than short flights. In their haunts, which cannot be 

 well defined or enumerated, they are ever busy, when not in- 

 terrupted, in catching the insects and caterpillars upon which 

 they feed ; and yet, though not shy, they are continually 

 watchful, and mindful of intruders. 



d. Besides a sharp chuck^ which is loud enough to attract 

 the attention of every passer-by, a simple chick, less often 

 heard, and a chatter, much finer and less harsh than that of 

 the Catbird, the Maryland " Yellow-throats " have a charac- 

 teristic set of notes, which resemble the syllables wee-chee-chee, 

 repeated several times, with a marked emphasis on the wee. 



