BAY-BREASTED WARBLER. 367 



but only in a few exceptional cases could I convej"^ to my readers in 

 words or letters any idea of the songs of birds, and I must admit 

 that I make but poor progress in trying to follow others who think 

 they have succeeded in doing so. 



DENDROICA CASTANEA (Wils.). 

 275. Bay-breasted Warbler. (660) 



Male ill spring: — Back, thickly streaked with black and grayish-olive; 

 forehead and sides of head, black, enclosing a large deep chestnut patch; a 

 duller chestnut (exactly like a Bluebird's breast) occupies the whole chin and 

 throat, and extends, more or less interrupted, along the entire sides of the 

 body; rest of under parts, ochrey or bufify whitish, a similar buffy area 

 behind the ears ; wing bars and tail spots, ordinary ; bill and feet, blackish. 

 Female in upriiii/: — Is more olivaceous than the male, with the markings less 

 pronounced, but always shows evident chestnut coloration, and probably traces 

 of it persist in all a/iult birds in the fall. The young, however, so closely 

 resemble young itriata that it is sometimes impossible to distinguish them 

 with certainty. Gastaiiea is, however, tinged with buffy or ochrey below, 

 instead of the clear pale yellowish of striata; moreover, ca-itanea is usually 

 not streaked on the sides at all. Size of s/i-iala. 



Hab. — Eastern North America, north to Hudson's Bay. Breeds from 

 Northern XeM' England and Northern Michigan northward ; winters in Central 

 America. 



Nest, in a hemlock tree, fifteen or twenty feet from the ground, composed 

 of larch twigs and moss, woven together with spider silk, and lined with 

 tiljrous roots. 



Eggs, four, bluish-green, thickly spotted with lilac and brown at the larger 

 end. 



M3' observations of this species agree with what has been pub- 

 lished regarding it by those who have observed it in the Eastern 

 States. I have found it abundant in spring some years, and in 

 others rare, or entirely wanting, while in the fall it is always scarce, 

 if it is seen at all. This has led to the belief that the species does 

 not always follow the same line of migration in spring, and that in 

 the fall the return trip is made along a line to the west of us, the 

 few we see being only stragglers from the main body. It is a 

 late comer, being seldom seen till after the middle of May, and it 

 is less active in its movements than other members of the family. 

 It is seldom seen on the ground or near it, usually keeping among 

 the upper branches of the trees. 



The only time I ever saw more than three or four together was in 



