302 BIRDS OF ALABAMA 



stone walls that traverse open country or feeding on the 

 ground, in company with various si)ecie3 of sparrows, in grain 

 stubbles and weed-infested f ields."t 

 Food habits. — Barrows says of the food of this species : 



The food consists mainly of insects and the bird eats immense 

 numbers of span-worms and plant-lice at all times of year. In 

 the fall they also eat some seeds and berries, but they are mainly 

 insectivorous and are expert fly catchers, taking much of their 

 food on the wing. Forbes found that two-thirds of the food 

 of those taken in an orchard overrun with cankerworms con- 

 sisted of those worms, while 19 per cent consisted of beetles, 

 4 per cent of ants, and 5 per cent of gnats.^ 



BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER: Dendroica fusca (Muller). 



State records. — The Blackburnian warbler is a regular but 

 rather uncommon migrant, occurring chiefly in spring from 

 the first week in April to the second week in May. Saunders 

 says of it: "Not common. Noted at intervals from April 4 

 to May 10, both at Woodbine and HoUins."* Graves reports 

 it rare on Sand Mountain, noted April 25 (1912) ; April 22 and 

 30 (1914) ; May 7 (1911), and May 9 (1912). It was observed 

 at Shelby, May 9 and 11 (1898). Avery collected only one 

 specimen at Greensboro, May 3 (1893). Holt saw 3 at Jack- 

 son, April 5, and I saw 4 at Florence, May 4 (1912). Single 

 birds were noted, also, at Autaugaville, April 16 and May 12 

 (1912) , and at Muscle Shoals, April 22 and 23 (1914) . A male 

 in spring dress taken at Point Clear is in the mounted collec- 

 tion of James K. Glennon. The only autumn record is that of 

 a specimen which I collected at Huntsville, September 7, 1908. 



General habits. — In its summer home in the North this war- 

 bler inhabits chiefly the tops of tall hemlocks, white pines, or 

 other conifers and builds its nest from 20 to 80 feet above the 

 ground. In migration it is often seen near the ground in low 

 deciduous growth, where its brilliant coloration always arrests 

 attention. It is usually found singly or in pairs. 



fBrewster, W., Birds of the Cambridge Region of Massachusetts, p. 340, 1906. 

 JBarrows, W. B., Michigan Bird Life, p. 612, 1912. 

 •Saunders, A. A., The Auk, vol. 25, p. 422, 1908. 



