3L0GIST 



[Vol. 11-No. 10 



Nesting of the Worm-eating Warbler 



BY THOMAS H. JACKSON, WEST CIIE8TBB, PA. 



AlUiougU having repeatedly found the neat o£ 

 the Worm-eating Warbler, {Helmintliotherus ver- 

 mimrtis^ never until the present season have I 

 been able to place in my cabinet perfect sets of 

 eggs of tills species. 



Every collector knows how discouraging it is 

 to find the nest of some rare bird containing a 

 flourishing brood of young, or but little bolter, a 

 set of eggs so far advanced in incubation as to 

 make their preservation a matter of great diffi- 

 culty. And yet from such specimens we are able 

 fix the time of nesting, approximately, and 

 i profit thereby another season. 



Such was my intention the present year, and 

 accordingly on the 31st of May, 1886, 1 visited a 

 large tract of wood land adjacent to West Che.5- 

 I ter, Pa., that I knew was a favorite habitat of the 

 Worm-eating Warbler. The timber growth con- 

 sisted of Beech, Oak and ChestQut ; the former 

 predominating, and the trees were of small size. 

 A running stream with numerous swampy places, 

 overgrown with briar tangles and alder bushes, 

 bounded the foot of the hill, which rapidly as- 

 1 ccnded from sixty to one hundred yards. From 

 1 the table-land above the leaves had been swept 

 by the wind over the brow of the hill, and lodged 

 in heavy masses wherever a projecting rock or 

 other obstruction intervened. Entering the wood 

 land I commenced to work up the hillside, care- 

 fully examining every spot likely to offer a fa- 

 vorable shelter, and in a short time was rewarded 

 l)y finding a nest. It was neatly imbedded in the 

 ground under a bunch of leaves that had lodged 

 I against a hickory sapling, and which formed a 

 sheltering arch over the nest. No eggs were in 

 it, but it was evidently finished, as its beautiful 

 lining of flower stalks of the Pohjtricldum had 

 been added in readiness for them. Leaving the 

 l)lace I went round a spur of the hill not a hun- 

 ed yards distant, to a steep bank facing the 

 I east, and in a position almost precisely similar, 

 I found another nest, also completed, but without 

 eggs. The two nests were so much alike in 

 every respect that a single description suffices for 

 I the history of both. 



Eight days later on the 30th of May I again 

 I visited them both. Creeping quietly up to No. 1 

 I lay down within six feet of the nest. The fe- 

 male still sat upon it without apparent alarm, 

 and only k-ft it when I was almost near enough 

 to touch her with my Iiand. She then flew to 

 the ground, tumbling and fluttering in great 

 distress, in her endeavors to lead me away from 



Oct. 1886.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



157 



the nest. The male also appeared on the scone 

 at the first chirp of alarm, and both birds re- 

 mained near by until I left. The nest contained 

 five eggs— two of which showed considerable 

 sign of incubation, although all of them had been 

 laid within seven days. The ground color of this 

 set is a dull white, thickly spotted at the greater 

 end, and more sparingly over the body of the 

 egg, with varying shades of rich brown, ap- 

 proaching in one egg a delicate shade of lilac, 

 sprinkled in fine spots. The measurements of 

 the set are as follows : .52x.68 ; .54x.G8 ; .53x.05 ; 

 .51x67; .53X.65. 



Nest number two at this time contained but three 

 eggs, and the parent birds did not appear in the 

 vicinity, so I did not disturb them, but again vis- 

 ited the nest on ,Iune 2d, and found the set of five 

 completed with the female sitting. This set was 

 perfectly fresh, both parents were around and 

 showed the same signs of alarm as those at the 

 first nest. Set No. 2 dilTer from No, 1 conspicu- 

 ously in having a bright glossy surface and being 

 much heavier in appearance. The spoiling is 

 similar, though more on the lilac shade. They 

 measure .55X.05; .56x.05; .54x.G8 ; .50x.(i8 ; .53x 

 .64. 



My third nest was found in a somewhat differ- 

 ent situation from the last two. A road running 

 through the edge of a wood, had from disuse be- 

 come overgrown with small t-rees. The timber 

 adjacent had been cut away, but a fringe of sap- 

 lings had been left on the bank sloping up ten 

 feet from the road. Deeply imbedded in this 

 bank, under an overhanging Dogwood tree, the 

 nest had a sheltered location. A few yards below 

 a dense thicket of briar and alder overhung a 

 clear stream of spring water, and from its dark 

 recesses the notes of the White-eyed Vireo and 

 Cardinal were constantly heard from their almost 

 unpenetrable refuge. This nest also contained 

 five eggs— slightly incubated. The markings on 

 this set were lighter, and more generally diffused 

 our the entire surface in fine points, and dots of a 

 uniform light chestnut or brown. This set meas- 

 ures .57X.68; .57x.67; .57x.07; .56x.70; ..55x.08. 

 Set No. 4 was taken June 1st, in the adjacent 

 county of Delaware, At this date they were al- 

 most ready to hatch. This set of eggs was 

 much pfainer than any of the others— incubation 

 probably dimming the colors somewhat. The 

 nest was located on a steep hillside near tlie sum- 

 mit, covered with a heavy forest growth. The 

 fiah and last nest of the season was found on a 

 steep east lying hillside, and contained a single 

 young bird a few days old, on the 6th of June. 

 Two other sets of eggs of four and five re- 



spectively -were taken in this county the present 

 season by Mr. S. B. Ladd, of West Chester, and 

 are now in his cabinet. The set of four has a 

 clear, white glossy ground thickly spotted with a 

 rich reddish brown, so profusely laid on as to al- 

 most obscure the white. They are very large, 

 and of peculiar shape, being nearly of the same 

 size at both ends. They measure .58x.72 ; .59x 

 GO- 58x70; .60x.71. The set of five are con- 

 derably smaller-giving the following dimen- 

 sions : .51X.66; .5ox.67 ; .52x.G8 ; .53X.67 ; .53x.67. 

 They are exquisitely marked-tlie greater enit 

 being so thickly covered with a rich hrown as to 

 form a wreath, and the coloring also extends to 

 the smaller end with Nesting of the Worm-Eating War- 

 ohnrip Ti„"v exceed blernear Leighton, Ala. 



shade. They exceei 

 Warblers 1 tvcr siw 

 steep, rugged hillsidi 

 with those licrotofori 

 From the lougoir 

 this bird, together ' 

 under my notice, wt 



On (lie •.'■.nil cif Aiu-il tin 



i lush 



in.l 



7.1 



vas fortu- 

 - but little 



IV ooldgiL-al paiicr.s coiiceriiiug the nest- 

 .if lliis W'ayUq.v (IlfbiiitherUH ni-riiiii-irnix) 

 actoristic habits of tl i tlumglil, an :u e,Miut of it would be intercst- 

 ig to llic i o;uI('i-s 111 the O. & O. 

 1 \v;is (Ml ],;\ (.liingc mountain looking for 

 cstsdl ilielJlack and Turkey Vultures, and 

 iivmi. walked along Uw. bluff some two miles 

 iis lic.MiniiHg rather (liseouraged at finding 

 ulliing, vvlHMih:i|.|.eiiii.- Lilian 



1. It always nesti 

 a sleep hillside, in If 



3. A stream of w , 

 seems to be a desiial | 



3. The nest is i ' 

 flower stalks of the i 

 and ■ 



4. The u^u d n( ^1 



mil bird 



^ llu 



fh It It h 



lind. 

 It lb. 



uled. 

 uid til 



down 1 saw 

 -ind with its 

 I knew at a 



.So 1 walked olT a, sli.irt 



lined ^ 

 it no k> , 

 dis- 

 itil . 



distant t-f^ 



iittii 



!■ fr( 



Hi liv de 



Old \N i(, Ik, I 111,,, 

 half hour „r s„. u,.. 

 time before tlic bii 

 courage to alight 

 quickly to tlie sp,)t and thei 

 deeply imbedded iu the dead 1 

 tlie ground was • 

 ft ^^ IS ittlK U 

 Md.s ,n,l tould 

 smillopeum, t, 

 cliiefiy of dead h 

 and eoutaineil li 

 over the entire 

 tlie larger end, y 



inly 



id and 



'i'lic Won 

 breeder iu tl 

 pn,ir are the 

 spini^ r 1st N< 1 

 spc( Its hcK W IS 

 pcU.d ,U tlK SWl 



oil August 5Ui, a 

 .late until the lOtli 



I sat very still-: 

 noiit for some 

 about that length of 

 d summoned up sufhcient 

 on her nest. I walked 

 as the nest 

 s with which 



■ed. 



Ill bush oiithehill- 

 eeii through one 

 It was co,iii«>sed 

 with due grasses, 

 Ik sh ,^^s tin, 1 Iv 111 111 Ld 

 Lirfa,ee, but uhuc heavily on 

 til two shades of lirownisli- 



M-y mo 



lot ot I sin 

 only lie s 

 imi boUiw. 



<M s llULd 



uliiR 



■ound. 



,le 



ac on a pi 

 ig W iibki IS 1 111. 

 dity, and indeed the above 

 lies 1 have seen here in the 

 the fall migration of tliis 

 follows fust om, a $ ip 

 ip July tilth: next one .seen 

 1 iduil 111. u is, tnini this 

 im lOth til l.-|lli. li.uohtof 



hisl , 



lasmg m numbers fr 

 oil September Otli. 



this date; 



P. i i ; M. 



