278 THE BIRDS 
FAMILY MNIOTILTIDAX.—WOOD 
WARBLERS. 
GENUS MNIOTILTA. 
[636]. Mniotilta varia (Linneus). Black and White 
Warbler. 
Raner.—Eastern North America and northern South 
America. Breeds in Canadian, Transition, and Austral 
zones from central Mackenzie, southern Keewatin, 
northern Ontario, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and New 
Brunswick to eastern Texas, Louisiana, central Alabama, 
and northern Georgia, west to South Dakota and casually 
to Wyoming and Colorado; winters from Colima and 
Nuevo Leon to Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela, and 
in Florida, the Bahamas and West Indies to Guadeloupe, 
and casually in southern Texas; accidental in Washing- 
ton, California, and Bermuda. 
The Black and White Creeper, as called by many on 
account of its habits, is rather a rare breeding bird with 
us, though most numerous when migrating. Two pair 
have bred on my own place for the last two seasons, 1909 
and 710, though diligent search has failed to find a nest 
with eggs. The old birds with young just able to fly have, 
however, been seen later in the season. The first of these 
birds to arrive in the spring reach us about April 5th, 
and by the 10th the flight is well under way and numbers 
greatly increased. The nest is placed on the ground or 
in the cavity of, or near, a dead stump or log in the woods, 
and composed of dry leaves, strips of bark and grasses, 
lined with fine grasses. Eggs, four in number, white, 
