ORNITHOLOGIST 



OOLOGIST. 



PUBLISHED BY FRA.NK B. WEBSTEE. 

 Established, Marcli, 1S75. 



Single Copy 

 10 Cents. 



VOL. XIII. BOSTON, MASS., NOVEMBER, 1888. 



No. II. 



Nesting of the Yellow-throated War- 

 bler near Charleston, S. C. 



BY ARTHUR T. WAYNE. 



The month of April I spent at Hobcaw Point, 

 Berkeley Co. S. C, with the intention of de- 

 voting the whole of the time in searching for the 

 nests of the Yellow-throated Warbler {Dendmca 

 dominica). 



This place (Hobcaw Point) is one of the most 

 beautiful country places near Charleston, and 

 it is opposite the town. On entering the 

 "Point" by water, the approach to the dwelling 

 house Is marked by a most exquisite avenue of 

 Live Oak trees, which are over one hundred and 

 fifty years old, and which are draped in Spanish 

 moss which grows very luxuriantly. It is in 

 this avenue that the beautiful Yellow-throated 

 Warblers are to be found. They very rarely 

 leave this location, and are resident the whole 

 year. 



At the time of my arrival April 2d, I knew 

 that some of the nests were already built, and 

 I doubted if I would be successful in finding 

 even one. The season was very backward, 

 however, as it was very cold in March and I 

 consoled myself with the hope that the War- 

 blers were delayed in their nest building. 



The next day April 3d, I marked three pairs 

 of birds that were mated and undoubtedly 

 breeding, and from two pairs of these Warblers 

 I took five nests with eggs. 



The female builds her nest wholly by herself ; 

 the male takes no part whatever; he simply 

 has a good time flying around and singing as if 

 to encourage her with her work. The nest is 

 only to be foimd by watching the female close- 

 ly, "and I do not hesitate to say that it is the 

 most difficult nest I know of to find. The 

 female alone incubates the eggs, and is not even 

 fed by her mate. She has a pretty hard time ! 



My first nest was taken on April 11th, and 

 contained three fresh eggs. It was built in a 



bunch of moss, completely hidden, and under a 

 large oak limb, and about thirty feet from the 

 ground, and at the terminal branch of a large 

 nmb which grew from the main body of a Live 

 Oak tree. In five days only three eggs were 

 laid, which shows that the set was complete, as 

 the female was sitting. 



My second nest was found April 14th, and 

 contained four eggs with large embryos. It 

 was built like the first nast, but much higher- 

 being fifty feet from the ground. I had much 

 trouble in securing this nest, as it was on such 

 a high tree, and the limb in which it was built 

 was very rotten. 



Nest number three was taken April 19th, and 

 was built in a bunch of moss, in a Black Gum 

 tree, forty feet from the ground, and contained 

 four eggs with large embryos. The eggs in 

 set are very handsome. 



My fourth nest was taken April 25th, and 

 was built in a bunch of moss, in an oak tree, 

 about forty feet from the ground, and contain- 

 ed four eggs slightly incubated. This nest was 

 hardest of the series to secure, as the limb was 

 rotten and hung down about five or six feet, 

 and the limb from which it grew was very 

 small. I had to bind myself to the tree with a 

 rope, and cut the limb as far as I could reach 

 with a sharp knife. As it was, I gashed ray 

 thigh with the knife before I was at work very 

 long. This set was the second laying of the 

 birds to nest number two, and are very similar 

 in coloration. 



My fifth and last set was taken on May 1st, 

 and the eggs are exquisitely marked. The nest 

 was built in a bunch of moss, in a Live Oak 

 tree, about fifteen feet from the ground; the 

 nest contained three eggs and were fresh. This 

 set is the second laying of the birds to set num- 

 ber three, and the eggs are also very similar, 

 but much handsomer-in fact the handsomest 

 set I have yet taken of this Warbler. 



The nests all agree in materials, and work- 

 manship,-being built of fine grass, weeds. 



162 



OROTTH 



snake skins, feathers, and lined with the flower 

 of the moss ; in one of the nests there is a 

 quantity of cotton. The nest is built in a 

 bunch of moss, and rests on a bed of the same. 



All of these eggs were taken from three pairs 

 of birds, which were the only ones found in a 

 radius of several miles. 



[Two of the sets of eggs of i>. dominica re- 

 ferred to by Mr. Wayne are now before me and 

 may be described as follows : 



April 14, 1888. Four eggs. Ground color 

 grayish-white, in some running to a pinkish 

 white, spotted with lavender-gray, and burnt 

 umber. The markings are almost all near the 

 larger ends, and form wreaths around the 

 broadest diameters. One of the eggs has a large 

 blotch of burnt umber which produces an odd 

 effect. They measure .71 x .53 ; .71 x .53 ; .69 x 

 .53; .69X.53. 



April 11, 1888. Three eggs. Grayish-white 

 ground color, spotted with lavender-gray and 

 burnt umber. The markings form indistinct 

 wreaths around the centres of the eggs. They 

 measure: .65x.51; .66x.49; .60 x .49.— J. P.' 

 N.]' 0,& O. XIII. Nov. 1888 p. 161-2 



Copyriglit, 1888, by F, S. CAKPBKTEK and F. B. WEBSTER, 



