WARBLERS 289 



Fork, near Mellville, May 1-4 (1914) ; and on Ryan Creek, 

 near Ardell, May 4 (1914). 



General habits. — This warbler frequents clearings in de- 

 ciduous woodland, shrubby second growths, and sometimes 

 swampy thickets. It is a rather retiring bird, deliberate in 

 its movements, and has a weak, insectlike song which, how- 

 ever, is very characteristic. The nest is placed on the ground 

 or just above it in a clump of grass or some herbaceous plant 

 or at the foot of a small sapling or rosebush ; it is rather deep 

 and bulky, composed of coarse grass, dead leaves, etc., lined 

 with grapevine bark, fine grass stems, or horsehair. Although 

 nesting on the ground, the birds are most often seen in the 

 tall bushes and lower limbs of the trees, and the males seek a 

 rather elevated perch from which to deliver their song. This 

 is described by Burns as "a drowsy, locust-like swe-e-e-e-e-ze- 

 e-e-e-e, the first apparently inhaled and the last exhaled."! 



Food habits. — Dr. B. H. Warren says of this bird : 



When the apple and pear trees are in blossom, these yellow- 

 vested insect hunters, singly, or in pairs, frequently visit 

 orchards and gardens, but at other times they rarely, accord- 

 ing to my observation, are seen about the habitations of man. 

 * * * this species subsists, to a considerable extent, on spiders, 

 larvae and beetles.** 



GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER: Vennivora chrysoptera 



(Linnaeus). 



State records. — The golden-winged warbler occurs in Ala- 

 bama not uncommonly in migration. I secured a specimen 

 at Barachias, April 22, 1912, and observed another there the 

 following day; one was taken near Muscle Shoals, April 22, 

 and another was heard singing there, April 24, 1914. Saun- 

 ders found the bird rather common at HoUins from April 21 

 to May 7, 1908. McCormack took a single specimen at Leigh- 

 ton, August 23, 1893, and Avery found the species rather com- 

 mon at Greensboro in fall migration and took specimens 

 August 11 and 21, September 11 and 16, and October 4. 



General habits. — In its summer home in the Northern 

 States, this warbler inhabits deciduous woodland, preferring 



tBurns P L., in Chapman, The Warblers of North America, p. 70, 1907, 

 •♦Warren, B. H., Birds of Pennsylvania, 2d ed., p. 276, 1890. 



10— B 



