Dctidi'ceca c£j-r«(/esfe?;s.— Despite the fact that three identified nests of 

 the Black-throated Blue Warbler have been found in Connecticut, "its 

 local distribution in New England" cannot fairly be considered as coin- 

 cident" with that of Dendrceca virens. The latter breeds regularly 

 throughout the whole of New England and is, if anything, rather com- 

 moner in summer in the pine woods of Eastern Massachusetts than among 

 the spruces and firs of the more northern States, while the Black-throated 

 Blue Warbler is, to say the least, mainly confined to the Canadian Fauna. 

 The statement that " it has been observed in summer in Massachusetts " 

 presumably relates to Allen's record (Birds of Springfield, p. 62) of its 

 being "found in the breeding season on Mt. Holyoke (C. W. Bennett) 



and along the ridges in the western part of the State (B. Horsford) " 

 But these elevated places are both outlying spurs of the Canadian r ^on 

 and many stnctly Canadian species, such as the Black SnoM^bird, regular- 

 ly breed there. The occurrence of nests at Eastford, Connecticut is 

 certainly hard to understand, but the explanation may probably be foiind 



n some peculiar feature of the locality where they were taken. At Tu 

 events there are at present no suiBcient reasons for regardino- them as 

 other than exceptional examples. =.-i™in„ them as 



Bull. N.0.0, «,Oct,X881,p. -^J^-^S?. 



8 -ON-II 'PA] JLSIOOl 



about 3,500 feet at the eiige of the evergreen 

 growth. In Roane county, on May 16tb, they 

 were fairly common on Walden's ridge, at an alti- 

 tude of about 4,800 feet. On May 31st, the day 

 before ascending Great Smoky Mountain, I saw 

 a pair in a small grove of red maples {Acer ru- 

 brum), and again on May 34tli, the same pair 

 (presumably] were seen carrying material for a 

 nest into a dense laurel thicket. They could nut 

 be restricted to any faunal limit, the preference, 

 if any, being for the intermediate station. I was 

 especially fortunate in observing the nidification 

 of this species, in a small laurel swamp, which 

 with the assistance of three obliging lumbermen, 

 I thoroughly searched on MaySOlh. Three nests 

 were found, but many were overlooked as the 

 swamp was alive with these warblers. The first 

 was placed in a laurel bush about a foot from the 

 ground. It was similar in appearance to that of 

 the Maryland Yellow-throat, but considerable 

 cotton entered into its composition. It was 

 empty, the birds evidently had just completed it. 

 The second nest was in a similar position to the 

 first, being a little higher from the ground. Its 

 structure was more ornamental, a great deal of a 

 flaxy material being woven into the outside. 

 This nest contained four fresh eggs, pinkish-white 

 marked with a few reddish-brown spots ; one egg 

 differs from the others in not possessing any 

 markings whatever save a few light-brown ones 

 on the larger end. Dimensions as follows : .03x.49, 

 .63X.50, .61X.48, .63x.49. 



The third nest was also in like situation, but 

 built more compactly and neatly than either of 

 the preceding. It contained only two eggs, 

 which were not taken. 



