WARBLERS 



(640) Vermivora bachmani 



(Auduhoii) {Lat., worm eating). 



BACHMAN'S WARBLER. Bill 

 very acute and slightly decurved. 

 Ad. cP — Plumage as shown by the 

 nearer bird. Forehead, face, entire 

 under parts and lesser wing coverts 

 bright yellow; nape grayish; back 

 and wings olive-green; black breast 

 patch and crown; outer tail feathers 

 with white spots in the middle of the 

 inner webs. Ad. 9 — Much duller 

 colored; no breast patch; crown gray 

 like the nape. L., 4.30; W., 2.40; T., 

 I. So. Nest — Of grasses, leaves and 

 strips of bark; on or close to the 

 ground; eggs white, with a wreath of 

 brown spots about the large end. 



Range — Southeastern U. S.; known 

 to breed in Mo., Ark., and Ky. and 

 S. Car. Winters in Cuba. 



connection with an otherwise obscurely marked body. How- 

 ever, they are so silent and quiet in their habits that usually 

 a close watch is necessary in order to. locate them. They are 

 rarely seen at any great height from the ground and delight 

 in creeping about the trunks of leaves after the fashion of 

 Black and White Warblers. 



Their song is very indifferent, like a very weak imitation 

 of that of the Chipping Sparrow, often so faintly given that 

 it is difficult to hear even at a short distance. Their nests, 

 composed of leaves, lined with the red stems of hair moss 

 and sometimes with fine grasses, are always placed on the 

 ground usually at the foot of bushes or stumps on wooded 

 hillsides. 



BACHMAN'S WARBLERS are rather rare birds with a 

 quite unique history. First found near Charleston, South 

 Carolina, in 1833, they remained practically unknown for 

 the next fifty years and then only a few scattering individuals 

 were taken in the Southeastern States until the first nest was 



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