[36 SUMMER HOME OF DENDRCECA CCERULESCENS. 



THE SUMMER HOME OF DENDRCECA CCERU- 

 LESCENS. 



BY JOHN S. CAIRNS, WEAVERVILLE, N. C. 



High up on the heavily timbered mountain ranges of 

 Western North Carolina is the summer home of the Black- 

 throated Blue Warbler. Here, in precipitous ravines, 

 amid tangled vines and moss-covered logs, where the sun's 

 rays never penetrate the rank vegetation and the air is 

 always cool, dwells the happy little creature, filling the woods 

 from dawn to twilight with its song, and always busy search- 

 ing the foliage for insects. The female, though less gayly 

 dressed, is the more interesting of the two. Well does she 

 understand the art of building a beautiful specimen of bird- 

 architecture. Nesting begins early in May and continues 

 until the end of June. The nests are placed in various 

 shrubs, such as laurel, wild gooseberry, and chestnut, but the 

 blue cohosh or papoose-root {Caulophylium thalictr aides) 

 seems to be the favorite. These thick weeds grow rapidly to a 

 height of from three to five feet, entirely hiding the ground, 

 and thus afford the birds considerable protection. 



The nests show little variation in their construction, 

 though some are more substantially built than others. 

 Exteriorly they are composed of rhododendron or grape-vine 

 bark, interwoven with birch-bark, moss, spider-webs, and 

 occasionally bits of rotten wood. The interior is neatly 

 lined with hair-like moss, resembling fine black roots, mixed 

 with a few sprays of bright red moss, forming a strikingly 

 beautiful contrast to the pearly eggs. The female gathers 

 all the materials, and builds rapidly, usually completing a 



