234 
SINGING BIRDS. 
spruce tree at a considerable elevation. Lichens, dry leaves of 
the hemlock, and slender twigs formed the exterior ; it was 
then lined with hair or fur and the feathers of the Ruffed 
Grouse. He afterwards met with this species in Maine and 
Newfoundland. 
Nothing is more remarkable in the history of this species 
than the rarity of the adult and the abundance of the young 
birds ; these last, which we have long known as the Autumnal 
Warbler, appear in gregarious flocks in the larger solitary for- 
ests of Massachusetts as early as the 20th of July, assembled 
from the neighboring districts probably, in which they have 
been reared. They remain there usually until the middle of 
October, at which time they are also seen in the Middle 
States. They feed on small insects and berries. Late in the 
season, on a fine autumnal morning, troops of them may be 
seen in the fields and lanes, sometimes descending to the 
ground, and busily employed in turning over the new fallen 
leaves, or perambulating and searching the chinks of the bark 
of the trees, or the holes in the posts of the fence, in quest of 
lurking moths and spiders ; and while thus eagerly engaged, 
they are occasionally molested or driven away by the more 
legitimate Creepers or Nuthatches, whose jealousy they thus 
arouse by their invasion. Earlier in the season they prey on 
cynips, flies, and more active game, in pursuit of which they 
may be seen fluttering and darting through the verdant boughs 
of the forest trees. One of these little visitors, which I ob- 
tained by its flying inadvertently into an open chamber, soon 
became reconciled to confinement, flew vigorously after house- 
flies, and fed greedily on grasshoppers and ivy berries ( Cissus 
hedei accd) ; at length it became so sociable as to court my 
acquaintance and eat from my hand. Before I restored it to 
liberty, its occasional hveet attracted several of its companions 
to the windows of its prison. At this time the bird is desti- 
tute of song, and only utters a plaintive call of recognition. 
Nuttall followed Wilson and Audubon in considering the young 
Blackburnians a different species, naming it the “ Hemlock War- 
bler.” I have given above Nuttall’s account of the two. 
