Nesting of the Yellow-rump Warbler. 



BY WIIiLlAM L. KBLLS, ONTARIO, CANADA. 



This species, (Deiidraca coroiiata), is but rarely 

 observed in tliis section of the country, though 

 owing to its peculiar habitat, and comparative 

 silence, it may be more common than I am now 

 aware. It is well known to every field ornitholo- 

 gist that each of the species of Warblers have 

 their peculiar haunts, and but few ol them inter- 

 mingle in the same society, and when they meet 

 they evince a je.alous rivalry that soon causes 

 each to understand that there can be no love be- 

 tween them, and that their ways are not in 

 liarmony. Sometimes, however, in a small circle, 

 .a number of species may be heard intermingling 

 their joyous songs together. In the same thick 

 underwood may be found the nests of the Red- 

 start, {Setopliaga niticiUa), and the Chestnut-sided 

 Warbler, {BendrKca penmi/lmiiica), but that of 

 the former is alw.ays more elevated than the 

 latter and generally deeper in the wood. So in 

 the same swampy woodland the Yellow-rump 

 and Bay -breasted Warblers, {Bendmaa eastanea), 

 meet on common ground; but while the latter 

 glean and warble high among the foliage, the 

 former confine their haunts near to the ground, 

 where they may meet in society the Black-and- 

 White Creeper, [MnwHlta vanii), and other mem- 

 bers of the same family; and as with the birds 

 themselves, so with their nesting places. I have 

 .seen but few nests of the Yellow-rump Warbler, 

 and but one with eggs. On the 8lh of June, 

 1883, I discovered, for the first time, the nest of 

 this species. It was in a low black-ash timbered 

 wood, where there was an intermingling of low 

 balsam and cedars, and near where I had taken 

 a nest of a Bay-breasted Warbler the season be- 

 fore, and of whose nest I was now in search, 

 when I espied in a low balsam about four feet 

 from the ground, a nest much like in material, 

 form and position, that of a Chipping Sparrow, 

 {Spkettii domedka). The bird was seated on the 

 nest, but flew off when I was within a few feet, 

 and from a position near by anxiously watched 

 my movements, at the same time moving unea,sily 

 and uttering a few "chip"-like notes. I also care- 



Tb 



.ULeiiii^ o. Av./" ^^.i-. 



fully noted her plumage, and became certain of 

 her identity as a Yellow-rump Warbler. The 

 nest contained four fresh eggs, which I took, and 

 they have since been in my collection. It is com- 

 posed of small stalks of dry weeds, rootlets and 

 hair. The eggs are clear white, mottled on the 

 large end with spots and blotches of light brown. 

 In size, form and color they much resemble tlie 

 eggs of the common Yellow Warbler, [Dendmca 

 astim), while the nest can scarcely be distin- 

 guished from that of a Chipping Sparrow. I also 

 saw near by an old nest of the previous year, but 



have ^^-^^^>^^-^^^^^^X'!tsie:p. /^3. 



85. Linncan Society. Ibid., XIV, p. 184.— Report of a meeting held 

 March 6, 1880, containing abstracts of papers read, relating in part to 

 ^ birds, and including notes on the breeding habits of Dendrceca cormiata, 



D. striata, and D. maculosa, and of excentricities in the nesting of 

 Savornis fitscus. Cr.r- *i Af.ir»oa.m 



706. Yelloiv Rump Warbler^ By A^Hall^ /Wrf.,.p. 32-— Shot Jar 

 13, 1883, in Northern Ohio " ~ 



The lELLOw-RUMPED Warbler {Dendr<^ca coronata) beeedin-g in 

 Eastern Maryland. _ During the latter days of June, 1879, while tem- 

 porardy stationed at Havi-e de Grace, Md., in the interests of the United 

 States Fish Commission, I discovered a family of Dendrceca coronata 

 breeding. _ The locality was on the banks of the river, a short distance out 

 of town, m a clump of low cedars. The female had apparently had the 

 right humerus fi-actured, as the wing, when closed, instead of lyin. against 

 the body, pointed upward. She could only make short flights at a time 

 and when pursued always made her way by flitting and hoppin<. to the 

 tops of the small trees before renewing her flight. I nearly caught her 

 with my hand several times. It is very probable that it was on account 

 of the crippled condition of the female that the birds had chosen so south- 

 ern a locality for nidification. The male appeared to be all right, but 

 acted rather indifferent regarding the fate of his family. 



I saw three of the young about half grown, but I failed to catch them 

 I should never have supposed the young to have been D. coronata had I 

 not so unmistakably identified the parents. My visit to the locality was 

 early in the morning and, being without a gun, I returned to my hotel 

 with the intention of revisiting the place and securing the interestin.. 

 family in the evening; but before that time I received orders to .0 south" 

 and could not again revisit the locality. The female was subsequent^ 

 seen and identified, at the same spot, by a friend, under somewhat similar 

 eircumstances, he also failing to procure either the young or the parents 

 -LuDwiG KiTMLiEN. BuU. N.O.O. 5. July. 1880, p. /fJ /h 



