Nests in Trees, Bushes, or Vines 



Breeding Range — The higher parts of the Alleghanies, from 

 Virginia northward ; northern New England to northern 

 Michigan, northward. 



The nest is composed of twigs (principally hemlock), grass, 

 pine needles, and weeds, lined with fine roots and hair-like fibre. 

 It is usually placed on the horizontal branch of a coniferous tree, 

 from three to thirty-five feet from the ground. The eggs, num- 

 bering 4 to 5, are white or creamy white, blotched and spotted 

 (sometimes clouded at the larger end) with hazel, brown, and 

 lilac wreathed round the larger end. Size — .65 x .48. 



The nest is generally to be found on the edge of paths or 

 clearings, in woods of firs and hemlocks ; "sometimes the nests 

 are built in the tops of young hemlocks, ten *to fifteen feet up, or 

 in the heart of the forest, thirty-five feet above the ground." 



The breeding season begins about the beginning of June. 



658. Cerulean Warbler: Dendroica caerulea (Wils.) 



Adult ti — Upper parts pure blue, streaked with black on the back 

 and sides of head; under parts white, streaked with blackish 

 on the sides, and on the breast, across which the streaks form 

 an irregular band. 



Adult 9 — Upper parts greenish ; under parts white, tinged more 

 or less with yellow. Length — 4.50. 



" Breeds in the Mississippi Valley as far north as Minne- 

 sota, and eastward as far, as Lockport, New York" ; rare 

 east of the Alleghanies. 



The nest is made of grasses, spider web, and lichen, lined 

 with fine grass; it is a compact structure placed at a considerable 

 height from the ground, probably not less than twenty, and from 

 that up to fifty feet. The eggs are white, tinged with cream, 

 blue, or green, and spotted and blotched (sometimes chiefly at 

 the larger end) with brownish red and lilac gray. The full com- 

 plement is probably 4. Size — .65 X .50. 



The nests of this beautiful blue warbler are rather rare, not 

 only from the fact that the birds themselves are common in but 

 few places, but because the nests, being placed on high branches 

 in the forests, are exceedingly difficult to find. The breeding 

 season probably begins about the middle of May, or perhaps 

 rather earlier. 



158 



