50 WORM-EATING WARBLER 



F. L. Burns 6 reports it as common, but extremely local, 

 Berwyn, Pa., where it inhabits the wooded hill-slopes. "I do r 

 remember," he says, "having ever met with it in the open, or in sm 

 groves of the bottom lands. It is at home in the second growth timt 

 of the hills, and is very deliberate in its movements, seeming ne^ 

 in a hurry and yet never idle. Stepping out with dainty tread a 

 bobbing head, it is a really graceful little walker on ground or tri 



"The bird exhibits a remarkable love for its chosen nesting haun 

 building the second and third nest within a radius of a few hundr 

 feet when disturbed, and returning year after year to the same pla 

 if successful in raising a brood. I have not observed a single pi 

 building on the exact site of former years, but on several occasic 

 within a few feet of it. While the female takes the leading part, t 

 male is always present and seems busy, a by no means silent parte 

 in the selection of site and construction of nest. * * * 



"Incubation does not always commence immediately after coi 

 pletion of set, particularly if the season be young. It is probable tt 

 the second night witnesses the beginning of that period and, as f 

 as my experience goes, I believe it is performed by the female aloi 

 The male feeds her when covering newly hatched young. The horr 

 coming of a brooding bird, after a brief airing and feeding, 

 heralded several hundred yards distant by frequent chips and she 

 flights from branch to branch near the ground, in leisurely fashii 

 and circuitous route, until at length, arriving above the nest, she ru 

 down a sapling and is silent. The bird is a close sitter and 

 approached from the open front will often allow a few minutes' sile 

 inspection, eye to eye, at arm's length, sometimes not vacating un 

 touched, then she runs off in a sinuous trail, not always feignii 

 lameness before the young are out. When disturbed with young 

 the nest she flutters off with open wings and tail, and failing to lei 

 one off, will return with her mate, who is seldom far off at th 

 period, circling about the nest or intruder, and, if the young are wi 

 feathered, she will dash at them, forcing them from the nest and 

 shelter. Once this brave little bird dashed at me and ran up to n 

 knee, scratching with her sharp little claws at every step. On tl 

 return the birds always make the vicinity ring with their protests- 

 a quickly repeated chip. The period of incubation in one instam 

 was thirteen days." 



William Brewster presents this picture of the bird in its haun 

 in West Virginia, where, he says, the bird is "most partial to tl 



