WORM-EATING WARBLER. 
Helmitherus vermivorus. 
Char. Above, olivet bead buff, with four stripes of black; beneath, 
buff, paler on belly. Length to 5^ inches. 
A'esL On the ground, often covered by a bush, or beside a fallen log ; 
of leaves, moss, and grass, lined with moss, fine grass, or hair. 
3-6 (usually 5) ; variable in shape and color; white, sometimes 
with^buff or pink tint, marked with fine spots of reddish brown and 
liiac; 0.70 X 0.55. 
These birds arrive in Pennsylvania about the middle of 
May, and migrate to the South towards the close of Septem- 
ber; they were seen feeding their young in that State about 
the 25th of June by Wilson, so that some pairs stay and breed 
there. They are very active and indefatigable insect-hunters, 
and have the note and many of the manners of the Marsh 
Titmouse or Chickadee. About the 4th of October I have seen 
a pair of these birds roving through the branches of trees with 
restless agility, hanging on the twigs and examining the trunks, 
in quest probably of spiders and other lurking and dormant 
insects and their larvae. One of them likewise kept up a con- 
stant complaining call, like the sound of de de. 
According to Richardson this species visits the fur coun- 
tries, where a single specimen was procured at Cumberland 
House, on the banks of the Saskatchewan. It is found also in 
Maine and the British Provinces of New Brunswick and Nova 
Scotia. Dr. Bachman says that it breeds sparingly in the 
