The Black and Yellow Warbler at 

 Grand Manan. 



BY OIIAS. H. ANDROS. 



This exquisite species (Dendroiea maculosa) 

 beiiicj one of the few for which wo had made 

 the island an olijective point, it was my original 

 intention to liave devoted a separate article to 

 its niditication, but being aware that the birds 

 are comparatively well known, and the eggs 

 represented in nearly every collection of size, 

 I concluded to give our experience in the sim- 

 ple monographic form in which the others have 

 been dealt with, reserving the privilege, how- 

 ever, to speak briefly on the colorations and 

 markings of a few of the sets taken. Ilai'dly 

 had our feet touched Dominion soil on our walk 

 to Northern Head when the sweet song of the 

 Black and Yellow was recognized, and was 

 soou a familiar one to us, proceeding usually 

 from some copse or brush clearing. Often this 

 pleasing variation would spur us to eflbrts ex- 

 traordina.r3' when stumbling along over tangled 

 brusli and interlaced creepers in some execrable 

 swamp, where the only other sound to break 

 the monotony would he the occasional haw- 

 haws of the Gull, or the far ofT whistle of the 

 White-throat on the hills above. The precipi- 

 tous walls which rise out of the waters of the 

 Cove de Whale are probably nearly as high as 

 any spot on the northern half of the island. 



Kov. 1887.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



183 



No. 2. Contains four eggs, resembling num- 

 ber one, having a few blotches of obscure lilac 

 the crown and minutely dotted with van- 

 dyke. 



No. 3. Contains four eggs, beautifully wreath- 

 ed about the crown with reddish-brown dots 

 and deeper blotches. 



No. 4. Contains lliree eggs, similar to nimiber 

 two, blotched more heavily with Vandyke and 

 umber. 



No 5. Contains three eggs, and is the coun- 

 tei'part of number one, the ring of vandyke 

 iK'ing slightly more prominent. 



No. 6. Contains two eggs, blotched with ob- 

 scure lilac about the crown, while the whole 

 sui-tiicc is fiei'ked with reddish-brown. 



Nos. 7 and 8. Are handsome sets, containing 

 four eggs eacli, being clouded on the crown 

 Willi nhscurc lilac, and blotched, spotted and 

 llrcki'il W illi bi'autiful shades of brown. The 

 wreath iu Ihcsc sets is not so clearly defined as 

 in otbers. 



^ly veteran friend, Mr. Cheney, in a recent 

 letler tells iiie that he found between twenty 

 aiiil lliiiiy ciiniplete sets during his leisure 



On the same daytie found two nests of 

 Black and yellow Warblers, (JJendrceea 

 Mactdosa) both built in small firs three and 

 four feet from the ground and containing 

 foiu- eggs partially incubated. 



/ * b\ ifrrt ) 



(P^ (s>. \DJ_. >i/t»^. in-z. j3. iiH . 



At a distance these towering clifts present a 

 most beautiful appearance, at one point strati- 

 fied with geometric lines of perfect masonry 

 and at others displaying the richest hues. On 

 the eastern side of the inlet the land from the 

 top of the clifl's rises gradually for perhaps two 

 hundred yards, terminating in an abrupt ridge, 



which is kept up around North Head to Swal- 

 low-tail Point, nearly two miles in all. 'J'he 

 growth of this ridge ditters from that of the 



plateaus above, the furze .-ind juniiMT which ali 



first predoiuiuate being gradually (iisplaced by 

 \ hemlock, with now and then a clump of birch, 

 i ash or alder, while spruces are scattered and 

 i intermixed with the prevailing hemlock. 



On the side of this ridge we found our first 



nest of the Magnolia on the 5th of .lune, which 



at that comparatively early date was first com- 

 menced. The female had when first noticcil a 



bit of catkin in her bill with which stn> Wcw fo- 



ward us and disappeared among th(> birches 



beyond, A short search revealed the embryo 



domicile some three feet up in a spruce, whici 



stood in the centre of a clump of hemlock 



The soft material which the female carried 



when first noted was evidently used for < 



mentation only, the nest being invariably 



structed without regard to warmth, being made 



up of rootlets, dry grasses and a few hairs. 



Not confined to high land we met with success 



where the ground was slightly teimy, especially 



where the heavy timber had been cut or burnt 



off, leaving the small stunted spruces peculiar 



to Northern New England, varying from one 



to seven or eight feet in height, and deenieil of 



too little consequence by the wooil cliDpiii iv |o 



cut. They are thick and bunchy at the tup and 



afford ample protection for their nests. ,Some 



of the burnt districts would lie devoid of these 



dw^arf shrubs while others would be tliickl\ 



dotted with the growt;h. The low shrubs seem 



adapted to the liking of some, though the ma- 

 jority prefer the height of from two and one- 



lialf to six feet, from our observations coupled 



with those of Mr. Cheney. Ross" Island made a ^ 



good showing after a, morning's scnrcli, but the 



other islets which fringe the coast do not seem 



favorable to its niililicalion ; the main seems to 



be the jiroper (ilace and liei'c we met with best 



success. From a sci-ics of (.-igiit sets, taken on 

 the island, before me, there is considerable vari- 

 ation as to markings, the ground being invari- 

 ably white. 



No. 1. Contains four eggs, which are spott.cd 

 chiefly about the crown with vandyke brown. - , ■ =.»r,, P^nn^vlvania —While 



A wreath of brow.i blotches encircles the base Breeding of Dendroica maculosa m Western Pennsylvania. Wb le 



-1 rollectinff trio in Butler and Armstrong Counties, 1 ennsylvanui, in 

 of each specnnen. a ^^^^ Warbler nesting. 



Development op a Brood of Black-and-yellow Warblers {Den- n>ade in the narrow valley— they are rarely a liunclred 

 drceca maculo,a).-ny co-laborer in this field, Mr, James W. Banks, desires >f the brooks emptying into Buffalo Creek, about six 

 me to record the result of some observations made by him last season, of J town of Freeport. On May 30, wbde rnramag.ng 

 the rapid growth of young Magnolia Warblers. On June 26, just at growth of young hemlock sap' ' 

 dusk, a nest was discovered containing four eggs, which exhibited signs feet from the ground in the 

 of advanced incubation, and early on die following morning one of the 'der, blackish, dead twigs 

 chicks had freed itself from the shell, while the otbers were on their way ?■ On June 

 out. When the nest was visited on July i, the foui- chicks were partiall v 

 fledged and on the fourth day of the month, or eight days from (he li 

 they were hatched, two of the brood had left the nest and the remain- 

 pair were so large tbey almost filled it and were nearly in full teath 

 While Mr. Banks .stood watching them one of the chicks jumped up 

 the edge of the nest and fluttered off to a bush near by, and, a couple 

 hours later on, the nest was empty and the parent and brood were seen 

 an adjoining hedge. — Montague Chamberlain, St. ~yohn, N. B. 



; and 



I Hew 



Bull IST.O.O. 8,Apil. IS8S. i /^/. 



, I found a nest 

 Jst of one of I hem. ft 

 th fine wccd-stcn 

 the nest contained three eggs, and o 

 mile on the nest in which now a fourth egg had bee 

 ,„e ■ place, and though t waited for her to return to it. i 

 „,.- coiuplctc the Identification by shooting her as s 

 ,,r 0 refused lo do so, and in company with her mate 

 an iboul until nigbltall. On my return early the next 

 of e left the nest at my approach, and a moment laler lay 

 in saminingber at my leisure, I saw there was no mistake 

 1, and when laler 1 took the precaution to conipaic I he 

 iplion in Coucs's ICcv, it agreed in every particular.— 

 I, Beaver, Beaver County, Pc-i 



