238 KENTUCKY WARBLER 



"It is very cunning in the concealment of its home, usually run- 

 ning quietly from the nest before the intruder is within ten or twenty 

 feet, protesting as it becomes visible at a safe distance, and as it seems 

 always to be chipping around, significance cannot always be attached 

 to its actions. When the mate appears the object of their suspicions 

 may be circled at a safe distance from bush to bush and bush to 

 ground, several times in the course of half an hour, and then one bird 

 may slip unseen to the nest, while the other lingers a little longer to 

 keep up the deception, retiring at last to some distant part of the 

 woods, or perhaps it may gradually lessen the volume of protesting 

 notes until it becomes silent, and with apparent content, settle on what 

 one confidently thinks must be the nest, only to flush it from an empty 

 bunch of weeds. 



"The eyes of the young are opened on the fifth day and in two 

 instances birds left the nest on the eighth day. If the too inquisitive 

 observer is noticed lurking around, the frantic female will frequently 

 drive the young from the nest prematurely. The male, while protest- 

 ing vigorously, seldom approaches as closely as the female." 



In Mississippi, Allison (MS.) writes that the Kentucky Warbler 

 inhabits "undergrowth in damp, or, at least, heavily shaded, woods. 

 It may frequent the thickets of rose-bay (Illicium) and the tangle of 

 bamboo briers on the Gulf coast, the varied tangled growth along 

 the creeks and rivers of the higher regions, or the brakes of switch- 

 cane; but it always selects a low, thick growth, where it feeds almost 

 entirely on the ground." 



Song. — With the Kentucky Warbler singing is a serious per- 

 formance to which he gives his entire attention. I quote from my 

 'Handbook' : "His song is entirely unlike that of any other Warbler. 

 It is a loud, clearly whistled performance of five, six, or seven notes 

 — tur-dle, tur-dle, tur-dle — resembling in tone some of the calls of the 

 Carolina Wren. Even in the woods it may be heard at a distance of 

 about one hundred and fifty yards. 



"In the height of the breeding season this Warbler is a most 

 persistent singer. On one occasion, at Englewood, N. J., I watched a 

 male for three hours. During this period, with the exception of five 

 interruptions of less than forty-five seconds each, he sang with the 

 greatest regularity once every twelve seconds Thus, allowing for the 

 brief intervals of silence, he sang about 875 times, or some 5,250 

 notes. I found him singing, and when I departed he showed no signs 

 of ceasing." 



