August, 1886.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



123 



Nesting of the Bay-breasted Warbler. 



BY WILLIAM L. KELLS, ONTARIO, CANADA. 



Some nine years ago I dolermined to put into 

 execution a design tliat I liad long conceived — 

 tliat of maliing a collection of the eggs of all the 

 birds found to nest in this vicinity, for with other 

 collectors I had then no acquaintance, and but an 

 imperfect knowledge of how to prepare my 

 specimens. So after making a collection of all 

 the specimens found nesting around home, and 

 prepared them as best I could — some by a hole in 

 each end, and some by a hole in the small end — I 

 set off one day in the early part of June for the 

 wild, swampy woods to the northwest of the 

 town. After penetrating some distance into the 

 first piece of wood that I entered, the first nest 

 that I discovered was placed about eight feet 

 from the ground, between some leafy twigs and 

 the trunk of a small birch tree. This was com- 

 posed outwardly of fibrous bark, especially birch 

 rootlets, and was neatly lined with pine hair, and 

 the interior was a little over two inches. in 

 diameter by one in depth. It contained three 

 fresh eggs, of a clear white, with a bluish tinge, 

 thickly spotted with brownish spots, especially , 

 towards the large end. These, in size, were a lit- 

 tle larger than are those of the more common 

 Chestnut-sided Warbler {Dendraxa Pemwjl- 

 vanicd). I did not see the bird to which this nest 

 belonged, nor. would I then have been able to 

 identity it if I had. The ue.\t season, however, 

 I saw a little bird forming its nest on the horizon- 

 tal branch of a small water elm that stood on the 

 edge of a drain, in a piece of low woods south of 

 the town. Of the size and markings of this 

 species I took particular notice, for she exhibited 

 little fear, and the nest site was only about twelve 

 feet from the ground, and the nest when finished, 

 and the eggs therein deposited, were exactly like 

 those above described. This bird I afterwards 

 identified as the Bay -breasted Warbler (Bmdroica 

 oasianea). Some days after I first discovered this 

 nest I visited it and found that it contained one 

 egg, and in three days more I plucked the bird 

 oH and found that the nest contained but three 

 eggs, which I concluded was the full set, and so 

 took them. Later on in the season, in another 

 swampy wood, I found (in the top of a small 

 hemlock, about fourteen feet off the ground), 

 another nest of the same species, containing four 

 fresh eggs. Since then I have seen no nests of 

 this bird, save one, which, however, contained 

 no eggs. This, like the others, was formed on 

 the outside with fine pieces of birch bark, but 

 was placed between a small limb and the trunk 



oi a small cedar, about five feet from the ground. 

 The general habitat of this species, according to 

 my observations, is low, swampy woods, where 

 there is an intermingling of evergreens with 

 black ash, birch, water-elm, and other soft woods, 

 and as it docs not appear to make its advent here 

 until the season is pretty well advanced, and the 

 trees are putting on their summer garb, and as 

 their food-seeking avocations are usually pursued 

 high among the tops of the underwood, where 

 they are well concealed from observation among 

 the green foliage, so that even should man enter 

 such places in the spring or early summer days, 

 their existence would scarcely be known were it 

 not for their pleasing song notes, which are 

 warbled at this period with considerable clearness 

 and animation. The majority of this species, 

 however, appear to move on further north, where 

 in deep, wild woods, little haunted by the human 

 race, they find more secure and favorable breed- 

 ing places, though from the causes above men- 

 tioned, more of them may nest in this province 

 than is now supposed to be the case, and, from 

 tlieir haunts and habits, it may be also inferred 

 that the smaller species of insects constitutes their 

 chief food. O.&O. XI. Atlg.1886. p.lZ3 



