110 



OROTTHOLOGIST 



rVol. 12-No. 7 



Nesting of the Worm-eating Warbler. 



BY SAMUEL B. LAUD, WEST CHESTKK, I'ENN. 



After having devoted all my spare time the 

 past season to my fiivovite HelmiiUho£heruiive.r 

 varus, Worm-eating Warbler, and having been 

 even more successful than I had anticipated, I 

 shall be glad and feel recompensed, if, in giv- 

 ing my fellow collectors a few points, I can 

 assist them in taking their eggs in the future. 



Fii'st, 1 found it a great help In tramping last 

 fall over localities where these birds would be 

 likely to breed, and noting places where old 

 nests were found; the lining of the nests ren- 

 dering their identity, as the birds when not dis- 

 tui'bed would probably return to the same 

 ground. Then I began looking for and watch- 

 ing them this spring, (about May 1st, is early 

 enough) and when I found them apparently 

 satisfied with their position, and not moving 

 about uneasily in the tree tops, 1 was almost 

 invariably right in my conjectures. The pe- 

 culiar trill of the male is of little assistance, 

 but the chirp of the female often will be, aftei' 

 their full complement is laid, and lead you to 

 their home. I have found eighteen nests con- 

 taining eggs and six nests with young this sea- 

 son, from May 24th to June 15th. inclusive. 



1 have observed that tliese birds are not con- 

 fined necessarily to hill-sides, as was heretofore 

 supposed, as I have taken three sets on level 

 ground and in rather open places, with little 

 shade. The experience of Mi'. Thomas H. Jack- 

 sou of this place, who has taken ten nests this 

 year, corroborates this fact. 1 have found that 

 without exception their nests are lined with 

 l'ol!iti-khi<(H or hair-moss. Sometimes fine 

 grass and horse-hair are used as part of the 

 lining. The body or outside of the nests are 

 composed of leaves onl}'-, and they were placed 

 at the foot of either a sapling or small bush on 

 the ground. 



Tlie eggs make a beautiful series, owing to 

 their vai-iation in markings, size and shape; 

 some being very faintly marked with light red- 

 dish spots, mostly around the larger end, while 

 some are very heavily blotched with lavender 

 or a rich chestnut. Tlie size ranges fi-om .75 to 

 .6-2 in length by .58 to .50 of an inch in width. 

 Tlieir shape varies from equal ended to quite 

 pointed. The most i-emarkable set I have taken 

 was on June 11th. After a hard and unsuccess- 

 ful day's tramp, I heard a female Worm-eater 

 chirping in an unusual islaee, and merely 

 walked that way from habit, as T did not ex- 

 pect to find their nest in a spot with so little 



shelter. However, after sitting on a stump 

 near the bird for some time, and not caring to 

 have her wake the neighborhood with her cries, 

 as she did not seem to be inclined to lead me to 

 her nest, I hunted the ground pretty thorough- 

 ly, and soon found the nest in an open space 

 where one would scarcely think it worth the 

 time to look. It contained a young Cowbird 

 nearly full fledged, also a Cowbird's egg, which 

 contained a partly formed but decaying embryo, 

 with five eggs of the Worm-eating Warbler, 

 which might well be called a dwarf set. They 

 are perfect in their shape and in their colora- 

 tion and size of markings ; in fact, perfect, ex- 

 cept that they contained no yolk. Their meas- 

 urements were respectively, .46 x .36 ; .46 x .36 ; 

 .45 X .37 ; .42 x .30, and .42 x 36. 



One would naturally wonder how so large a 

 Cowbird could stay in this nest without break- 

 ing these eggs, but their shells were as thick 

 as the average Worm-eater. The skin of the 

 young Cowbird is now before me; it measures 

 in length 5 3-4 in. Extent 0 1-4 in. 



It was remarkable how tenaciously this little 

 female fought in defense of the miserable young 

 Cowbird. She would actually light on ray back, 

 flap her wings and snap her beak while I was 

 takhig possession of her little fosterling and 

 nest of curios. Kegarding the number of eggs 

 laid by tlie Worm-eating Warbler, my 1S87 

 series reads as follows : three sets of six eacli, 

 ten sets of five each, and Ave setsof four each. 

 O. &O.X^I. July 1967 p. //o 



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nests, and would, I think, alone be sufficient to 

 identify the species. I would like to know the 

 experience of other collectors with regard to this 

 circumstance. 



The eggs, five in number, are of a clear glossy 

 white ground, spotted more abundantly toward 

 the greater end with varying shades of brown, 

 similar in size and shape to those of the Pro- 

 Ihonotary Warbler, (Protonoinria clfmi).—Thomu8 

 U. Jackson, Wesl C/mfer, Fa. 



0.*0. X.KOV.1885.P. 



