Open Nests in Woods, Thickets, Swampy Thickets 



coarse grass, weeds, leaves, bark, and tendrils, and sometimes a 

 compact and well-made nest of the same materials. to 6 eggs 

 are laid ; they are white, with very few spots of brownish red, 

 except round the larger end, where they are more numerous. 

 Size — .62 X .51. 



Although in some places this warbler is very common, the 

 nest is always hard to find. 1 have seen as many as twenty 

 pairs of these birds in a day during the breeding season, and yet 

 not one nest could 1 find. When the young are hatched it is, of 

 course, much more easy to find the nest, as the female may then 

 be seen carrying food to them. As far as 1 have been able to 

 ascertain by observation, the female alone sup'plies the young 

 with food, the male usually accompanying her until within a 

 short distance of the nest, or even to the nest itself, but 1 have 

 never seen him carry food. When these birds are seen to be 

 very much excited there is every reason for believing that the 

 young, which in all probability have very recently left the nest, 

 are not far away ; they may easily be found, as the parent birds 

 (both male and female take part in feeding the young after they 

 have left the nest) feed them constantly. Near New York nest- 

 ing begins about the third week in May. 



642. Golden-winged Warbler: Helminthophila 

 chrysoptera (Linn.) 



Adult $ — Head : Crown bright yellow ; a white line over the 

 eye, then comes a broad black line, level with and below 

 the eye, then a wide white line on either side of the throat, 

 which is black ; upper parts grayish ; wings bluish gray, 

 with yellow patch ; breast and belly white, shading into 

 gray at the sides. 



Adults — Duller in colour, dark gray taking the place of the black. 

 Length — 5.10. 



Breeding Range — " Georgia, North and South Carolina" in the 

 more elevated parts, northward to the more southern parts 

 of New England, also in "Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Mich- 

 igan, and is a rather common summer resident of Ohio." 



The nest may be found either on the ground or in low 

 bushes, usually the former ; it is built of grass, strips of bark, fine 

 roots, and leaves — the leaves being generally outside and under- 

 neath ; lining of fine grass. The eggs, 4 to 6 in number, are 



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