PINE WARBLER. 
241 
but little compass or variety ; sometimes it approaches the sim- 
plest trill of the Canary, but it is commonly a reverberating, 
gently rising, or murmuring sound, like er'r'r'r'r'r'rdh; or, 
in the spring, 'twe 'twe 'tw 'tw ’hu 'tw 'tw, and sometimes like 
'tsh 'tsh ’tsh 'tw 'tw 'tw 'tw 'tw ; when harkened to some time, 
there is a variation in the cadence, which, though rather feeble 
at a distance, is not unpleasant, as the little minstrel tunes his 
pipe during the heat of the summer day, while he flits gently 
and innocently fearless through the shady boughs of the pine or 
cedar in perpetual quest of his untiring prey. This song is 
commonly heard at a considerable distance from his mate and 
nest, from whom he often widely strays, according to the suc- 
cess of his precarious pursuit. As the sound of the warble 
varies from slender to high or low, it is often difficult to dis- 
cover the retreat of the little busy musician, which appears far 
or near with the modulation of his almost ventriloquous note. 
The female likewise tunes, at times, her more slender lay in 
a wiry tone, almost like that of the S. varia, in early spring. 
About the 7th of June, 1830, I discovered a nest of this 
species in a Virginian juniper, near Mount Auburn, in this vicin- 
ity, at the height of about 40 feet from the ground. . It was 
firmly fixed in the upright twigs of a close branch. The nest 
was thin, but very neat ; the principal material was the wiry' old 
stems of the slender knot-weed {^Polygonum tetiue), circularly 
interlaced, and connected externally with rough linty fibres of 
some species of Asclepias, and blended with caterpillar’s webs. 
The lining was made of a few hog’s bristles, slender root-fibres, 
a mat of the down of fern-stalks, and one or two feathers of 
the Robin’s breast, — a curious medley, but all answering the 
pose of warmth and shelter for the expected brood. I saw 
several of these nests, which had at different times been thrown 
to the ground, and in all, the wiiy grass and general material 
were the same as in the one now described ; and this, of 
course, is entirely different from that given by Wilson on the 
authority of Mr. Abbot. The nest there mentioned is nothing 
more than the usual pendulous fabric of the Red-eyed Warbling 
Flycatcher. The eggs in ours were 4, and, advanced towards 
VOL. I. — 16 
