104 
Vol. XII 
THE OLIVE WARBLER {DEN I) ROIC A OLIVA CE A) IN SOUTHERN 
ARIZONA 
By F. C. WILLARD 
WITH TWO. PHOTOS 
A MONG the pines of the open forest which covers the summits of the 
Huachuca Mountains several species of our rarer birds make their summer 
homes, and they are seldom seen or heard in other parts or lower levels of the 
mountains. The Olive Warbler {Dendroica olivacea) is perhaps the most sought 
after of these summit dwellers. It is also one of the rarest and most easily over- 
lookt. They seem to arrive some time about the 10th of May, and the first few days 
are spent, as it were, in staking out their claims anew. The males at this time are 
quite pugnacious toward one another, and, tho apparently already mated, they 
promptly drive any wanderer of the same sex from their selected bit of forest. I 
believe they return each year to the same locality in which they made their home 
of the previous year, as I have found them in the same patch of trees year after 
year while other places near by, with the same apparent advantages, never seem to 
be chosen. 
About the 20th of May nest building begins. The nest is a very handsome and 
compact affair. It is built by the female alone and she requires about two weeks 
for its construction. The male accompanies her as she flies to and fro gathering 
the materials. He calls and sings as they work and it is at this time it is best to 
locate the nest, as it is so well concealed that after it is completed the sharpest eyes 
cannot penetrate the clump of needles in which it is placed, and the sitting bird 
cannot be induced to leave her nest unless called off by the male, or when she goes 
to feed. The well concealed nest is the usual thing tho I have seen several that 
were quite conspicuous. 
Short-leaf pines, long-leaf pines and firs are chosen for the nesting sites. Lip 
to the season of 1909 I had always found them in long-leaf pines, perhaps because 
I always looked there for them. This season one was in a fir and the balance in 
short-leaf pines. 
On May 24 the female was observed building the nest found in the fir tree. 
She was gathering rootlets at the time and seemed very particular about them, 
picking up and dropping several before selecting one which she thought satisfactory. 
This she carried into a dense growth at the tip of a branch of a large fir about one 
hundred yards away. The male was singing and feeding in a tree close by. After 
a few trips with material the female would fly into the tree where he was and let 
him feed her. This is the only time I have observed nest building going on and 
the male not following the female in her flights. This nest w r as apparently well along 
in its construction as on June 3 I collected it and a set of four fresh eggs. At this time 
the male w ? as not seen or heard around the nest, nor would the female flush until I 
climbed the tree and shook the branch with considerable violence. As there was but 
a light wind blowing, I roped the branch up, and, crawling out, cut off a few of 
the intervening twigs so as to get the nest in view. Then I hauled up my camera 
and fastened it in position eight feet from the nest. During all this procedure the 
female was hopping around close by, and the male, responding to her calls, came to 
investigate, and remained near by until I collected the set. 
After everything was in readiness, I crawled back to the trunk and made 
myself as comfortable as possible to wait Madame Olive’s return to her nest. In a 
