Mar., 1906 | 
THE HERMIT WARBLER IN WASHINGTON 
4i 
The hermits make their first appearance early in May and the fact is only to 
be known thru their notes; for they frequent the tops of the giant firs which 
cover large sections of our flat prairie country. The song was described by my 
brother, Mr. C. W. Bowles, while summering in the mountains of southern Oregon, 
and later quoted in an article by the late Chester Barlow. It consists of four 
distinct notes, as a rule, and is described as, “zeegle-zeegle, zeegle-zeek,” uttered 
somewhat slowly at first but ending rather sharply. 
About the middle of July both young and old assemble in good-sized flocks 
and frequent the water holes in the smaller growths of timber. At such times I 
have never seen them associating with any other kinds of birds. 
In the midst of the dense foliage of the fir branches, and at a distance of from 
two hundred to three hundred feet from the ground, these birds cannot be satis- 
factorily studied even with the aid of the best glasses. They are so small and 
active that one is continually losing them, and it was only by the merest accident 
that I happened on a method of getting into close touch with them. I had found 
a nest of the Cassin vireo containing young, and stood watching the different 
small birds that always gather to inquire into the vigorous scolding of these most 
solicitous of parents. Suddenly from the towering firs overhead a small bird 
swooped down and joined the rest, soon to be followed by another. My suspicions 
were immediately aroused, and, carefully keeping them distinguished from the 
others, the black throat and yellow hermit’s cowl quickly identified the new- 
comers as male and female D. occidentalis. Soon they became the most inquisitive 
of all, and hopping close around me were truly "the observed of all observers.” 
It was on this occasion that I noticed a peculiar habit of these warblers, and 
my brother has since seen them do the same thing. After examining me closely 
and apparently deciding that f was a new kind of stump, the female commenced 
feeding, but her attention was soon attracted to a last year’s nest of the russet- 
backed thrush. She at once flew to it and, hopping in, crouched down and com- 
menced trampling the bottom, turning around, putting the material on the sides 
into shape with her bill, and altogether acting as if she had nest-building well 
under way. This was about the middle of May and, as I subsequently discovered, 
almost a month too early for her to lay her eggs. Nevertheless the nest was care- 
fully watched, tho with no further results. 
Their food consists of small spiders, caterpillars, tiny beetles, and flying in- 
sects which they dart out and capture in a manner worthy of that peer of fly- 
catchers the Audubon warbler. 
What might be called a typical nesting site is purely a matter of conjecture, 
though the few nests that have been taken in California were built rather low 
down. In Washington, however, it is probable that the nest is placed one hun- 
dred or more feet up in the great Douglas firs. The only nest I have ever seen, 
either old or new — the nest cannot be mistaken for any thing else — was found dur- 
ing the past season, on June nth, 1905. 1 was looking for nests of the black- 
throated gray warbler in a grove of young hundred-foot firs near a small swamp, 
when I caught sight of what looked to be a typical nest of the Audubon warbler 
on an overhead limb. The bird’s tail showed plainly over the edge of the nest, 
and while climbing up I was surprised that she did not come to meet me as D. 
auduboni always does. Instead she allowed me to sit on the limb and look down at 
her, and my feelings may be better imagined than described when, instead of the 
small yellow-crown patch of an Audubon, I saw the lemon-yellow head of a 
hermit. She sat so close that I was forced to lift her from the nest with my hand; 
and she then flew only a few feet where she remained chipping and spreading her 
