/ii-/ Blue-winged Yellow Warbler in New England. — Our knowl- 

 edge of the nests and eggs of Helminlhophaga pinus is limited to a very few 

 examples, and although its presence in New England has been several 

 ' - times noted, and it has been affirmed to breed (see Am. Nat., VII, 629 ; 

 this Bull., I, 73; Ibid., 11, 16; Merriam's Kev. Bds. Conti., p. 14), no 

 mention has been made, that I am aware, of its nest and eggs having 

 been actually taken.* The presence of here and there an individual in 

 the breeding season has rendered it a probable occurrence, and the present 

 season has made this a certainty. My friend, Mr. Harry Memll, of Ban- 

 gor, Me., writes me that Mr. N. A. Eddy of that city met with its nest and 

 eggs near New Haven in June last. The following data are supplied by 

 Mr. Eddy himself : — The nest was found June 14, and at that time con- 

 tained one egg. It was revisited June 20, when it contained fonr eggs, 

 which were taken with the nest and the female parent was shot. The 

 nest was situated in an old orchard, about half a mile from the coast of 

 Long Island Sound. It was placed on the ground, in the grass, at the 

 foot of a small bush. Tlie nest is of a very loose structure, and is com- 

 posed of oak leaves, built so as to form an inverted cone ; within is a 

 coarse lining of grape-vine bark, and this is again lined with fine grass 

 and very fine pieces of grape-vine. The eggs are white, with small red 

 spots forming a ring around the greater end. A few spots are also scat- 

 tered over the whole surface. Before they were blown the eggs were of a 

 flesh-colored tint. Their measurements are as follows: .65 X.50, .67 X 

 .49, .63 X .48, .60 X .47. — T. M. Bhewek, Boston, Mass. 



Is- 



* Since this paragraph was in type, I learn that several nests have been 

 taken by Mr. Clark, of Saybrook, Conn., and that one of its nests is in the 

 possession of Mr. Purdie, though no description of any has been published. 



ftuLLN.O.O. 5, Jan., 1880. p, J^f 



Nesting of the Blue-winged Yellow- 

 Warbler at New Haven, Conn. 



BY H. W. FLINT, NEW HAVEN, CONN. 



For several seasons I have felt a consuming 

 desu-e to procure a set of eggs of this warbler 

 Helminthophaga pimis, and when, after much 

 persistent watching, in June, 1887, I was enabl- 

 ed to trace a pair home, only to find the nest 

 occupied by five interesting young;, my vexation 

 can be better imagined than described. 



However, my determination to have a set of 

 eggs was only strengthened by this partial 

 success, and as the past season drew on I 

 watched almost daily the several pairs of birds 

 that had been located earlier in the spring, but 

 as in previous years heard only (by the hour at 

 a time) the aggravating song of the male as a 

 reward for my persistence, so that finally 

 through repeated failures to find the nest I lost 

 no small amount of the zeal possessed early in 

 the season and gave the birds little or no 

 attention when in my rambles specimens were 

 noted. 



On June 11th, as I was passing a scrubby 



lere a male had several times been 

 A-as again saluted by his energetic 

 rmined to make one more effort, but 

 confessed with very little hope of 

 utting a chestnut sprout I proceeded 

 lushes in a sort of zigzag course up 

 The sun was hot, the mosquitoes 

 I had walked about ten miles, and 

 tering his note unconcernedly from 

 1 neighboring Oak, seemed to say 

 as to be another case of persistence 

 I began to think that I did not 

 need a set very badly when just in front of me 

 appeared a female evidently very much excited 

 and chipping sharply. 



Whence she came was a puzzle, but my mind 

 was at once made up to examine every inch of 

 the ground if necessary, as I felt sure the nest 

 must be near, but after nearly a half hour's 

 search I had found nothing, and expectations 

 that were decidedly above par a short time be- 

 fore were somewhat lower now, although the 

 female continued to utter her sharp chip near 

 ; by. Determining to pursue a different course 

 I of action I walked off a few rods and sat down 

 within hearing, the birds note soon became less 

 anxious, the male descended from his perch on 

 the oak and together they proceeded slowly 

 down tlie hillside still chipping, flnaily the note 

 of the female grew fainter, less frequently, and 

 suddenly ceased. Taking out my watch I 

 waited five minutes (hours it seemed) and then 

 rising to my feet hurried in the direction from 

 whence the last note had proceeded. On arriv- 

 ing there I was unable to find my bird for some 

 time but finally did so by nearly stepping upon 

 the nest, which was placed at the foot of a 

 small briar, constructed entirely of Oak leaves, 

 and so cleverly hidden by a growth of tall 

 grass that had not the bird been flushed it 

 would not have been noticed. It contained five 

 eggs, pure white, and quite glossy, sparingly 

 marked and specked with blackish and brown. 



The birds came within a few feet of me while 

 the eggs were being packed and expressed their 

 opinion of the robbery in a very vehement 

 manner. O &0. XIILNov. 1888 p. 173 



