430 NESTS AND E0G8 OF 



642. GOLDEN-WINGED WABBLEB. Helminthophila chrysoptera (Linn.) 

 Geog. Dist. — Eastern United States and British Provinces; in winter south to Cuba, 

 Eastern Mexico and Central America. 



The breeding range of this handsome Warbler is about the same as that of the 

 last, but it seems not to extend its range so far. west in the summer months. It 

 has been found nesting in Georgia, North and South Carolina, and as far north as 

 Southern New England. Breeds in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan and is a 

 rather common summer resident of Ohio. Mr. 0, C. Poling found the Blue Golden- 

 winged Warbler breeding in limited numbers in the bottom lands of Western Illinois, 

 along the Mississippi River. The birds seem to prefer low land covered with long 

 grass with here and there a bush or grove of trees. Swampy lands that skirt small 

 woods are its favorite resorts in Central Ohio. The nest is built on or near the 

 ground under tussocks of grass or bushes. All the nests found by Mr. Poling were 

 placed above the ground. The composition consists of leaves, vegetable roots, 

 sedges, and fine strips of bark, lined with fine grasses — on the whole the situation and 

 style of the nest is like that of the Maryland Yellow-throat. The eggs, four to six 

 in number, are white, speckled with burnt umber, chestnut and lilac-gray. The 

 average size is .62x.48 inches. 



643. LUCY'S WABBLEB. Helminttwphila luciw (Cooper.) Geog. Dist. — Val- 

 leys of the Colorado and Gila Rivers in Arizona and Southern California, south into 

 Sonora. 



Major Bendire discovered the nest and eggs of this species near Tucson, Art- - 

 zona. May 19, 1872. The nest was built between the loose bark and the trunk of a 

 dead tree, a few feet froin the ground, similar to that of the Brown Creeper. Mr. P. 

 Stephens found it abundant in the vicinity of Tucson in 1882. The birds frequented 

 the willows along the banks of streams, and like the Kinglets, spent much of their 

 time in searching for insects in the outer branches. Many nests and eggs were ex- 

 amined after May 8. These were variable, the characteristic place being like that 

 found by Major Bendire, but the nests were also built in deserted woodpecker's 

 excavations, knot-holes and all sorts of crevices. A brood of young was actually 

 taken from the deserted domicile of a Yellow-headed Titmouse. The eggs are three 

 or four in number, white, usually sparsely speckled with brown and black, chiefly 

 at the larger end. A set of four taken by Mr. Stephens is described by Mr. Brewster 

 as being handsomely wreathed about the larger ends with reddish-brown and umber 

 spots, a few of which are scattered over the general surface. Their sizes are .58x.46, 

 .58X.46, .62X.46, .60x.47.* 



644. VIEGINIA'S WABBLEB. Helminthophila virginice (Baird.) Geog. 

 Dist. — Chiefly the Rocky Mountain districts, north to Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and 

 Nevada; south into Central Mexico. 



In some portions of the Rocky Mountain region this is an abundant species, as 

 in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah. It frequents the shrubbery along creeks, where it 

 breeds. A nest with eggs obtained by Prof. Ridgway, near Salt Lake, Utah, Is de- 

 scribed as being embedded in the deposits of dead or decaying leaves, on ground cov- 

 ered by dense oak-brush. Its rim was just even with the surface. It was built on 

 the side of a narrow ravine, at the bottom of which was a small stream. It consists 

 of a loose but Intricate interweaving of fine strips of the inner bark of the mountain 

 mahogany, fine stems of grasses, roots, and mosses, and is lined with the same with 



* Bull. Nutt. Ornlth. Club, VII, pp. 83-84. 



