Nesting of the Prairie Warbler in 
Fairfax Co., Va. 
'I’ll e northeastern part of Virginia, where I 
spent the season of 1884, two weeks in 1887, 
and three weeks in 1888, may well be termed 
the home of the Prairie Warbler ( Dendroica 
discolor). I believe this species cannot be 
found in greater abundance, during the breed- 
ing season, in any other part of the country. 
The place where the following notes were 
taken is in Centreville Township, Fairfax 
County, about twenty-five miles west of Wash- 
ington, D. C. 
The country just at this point is hilly, and 
each of the numerous hollows and ravines lias 
its “branch,” which flows either into the 
Popeshead or into Bull Run; the latter stream 
drains that part of the county. The land 
seems to be of little value; fields not under 
cultivation are, in a few years, covered with a 
dense growth of worthless pines. In other 
places, where the hard wood has been cut off, 
but which have not been grubbed over, a thick 
deciduous growth of sprouts, suckers and 
vines springs up. The Prairie Warbler is 
found equally as plentiful among the second 
growth as in the pines, but it is much easier 
to find the nests among the latter. In the 
scrub an oak, maple or alder sprout is usually 
selected, and when the birds start building, 
the leaves are small and do not conceal the 
stem and branches; at this time the nest is 
not difficult to find. But the foliage grows 
rapidly, and often by the time the eggs are 
laid the spreading leaves so completely cover 
and conceal the nest that one must part them 
to see it. 
My acquaintance with this warbler began 
May 13, 1884, when, as I was passing through 
a large tract of second growth, a bird left its 
nest almost at my side. Finding the contents 
were four eggs, I moved back a short distance, 
and on the return of the bird a few moments 
later its identity was established. 
This nest was in the most peculiar position 
of any found since; a small dead branch had 
in some way lodged in the top of an oak sprout, 
three leet from the ground; two prongs on 
one end of it were in an upright position, and 
between these the birds had built their nest. 
To take it I had only to lift the dead branch 
from its position. 
Within an hour after the discovery of the 
first nest two more were found, and during 
the following week the number was increased 
to eleven, from nine of which sets of eggs 
were taken. 
In 1887, I returned to the locality, mainly 
for the purpose of collecting a series of these 
eggs, and was successful beyond my greatest 
expectations. 
From my arrival, on May 13th, to the 26tli, 
I was in the field almost constantly while there 
was daylight; the result, twenty-four nests 
with eggs, was gratifying. Six nests were 
found the first day, and during the balance of 
my stay twenty-nine more were discovered; 
all were new; but eleven, for unknown reasons, 
were deserted after their completion. 
When I visited the place again last season 
(1888), I intended to pay but little attention to 
this species, but to look up other rarer ones 
known to breed there. However, meeting 
with such poor success, I was tempted con- 
tinually into the old fields and scrubby places, 
where the Prairie Warbler could be found, 
and the number of nests of this species dis- 
covered exceeded that of the previous year. 
Between May 9th and 30tli, thirty-nine new 
nests were found, of which twenty-two yielded 
sets of eggs. The Crows, Blue Jays, and 
black snakes were probably to blame for the 
absence of eggs in many of the other nests. 
That this species usually builds a second nest 
when their first is destroyed, I am quite satis- 
fied. Near the end of May, nests were noticed 
in different stages of erection close to the 
sites of others that had been taken from ten 
days to two weeks earlier. It pleased me to 
note this fact, as it assured me that no serious 
harm had been done to the birds by taking 
their first nest. 
The record of the height of eighty-three 
nests shows that the highest was seven feet, 
the lowest two feet and the average four feet. 
Of this number forty-two were on pines or 
cedars (very few on cedars), the remainder 
being placed on deciduous trees, bushes or 
vines. 
When the birds select a pine they seldom 
place the nest on a branch, but generally at- 
tach it to the stem, resting its base on one or 
more twigs growing out horizontally or at an 
ORNITHOLOGIST 
[Vol. 14— No. 6 
upward angle from the stem, and usually 
build it near the top of the tree. 
Five days is the time required to build the 
nest, and generally the first egg is deposited on 
the sixth day. A nest found on May 9tli, last 
season, must have been begun on the previous 
day as there was only a small portion of the 
base in position. On the 11th it was almost 
complete; two days later it was ready for oc- 
cupancy but was still empty, lho lust egg 
was laid on the 14tli, and on the 17th the full 
complement of four had been deposited. 
These were taken the following day. 
I made it a rule not to disturb the nest until 
the day after the last egg was laid, where it 
was possible to do so, and in this way insured 
the completeness of the set. As but few of 
the nests were at a greater distance than a 
mile from the farm-house whero I stopped, 
they were visited almost every day from their 
1 discovery to the time when they were taken, 
and by this means all the eggs obtained wore, 
with few exceptions, quite fresh and easily 
prepared for the cabinet. 
Four is the usual number of eggs in a set, 
though five does not seem to be an unusual 
number some seasons. Three of the sets taken 
in 1884 were composed of five and one of three ; 
in 1887 and 1888 one set of five and three sets 
of three each were taken each season. The 
nests from which the sets of three were ob- 
tained were at too great a distance from my 
stopping place to be left for a second examina- 
tion, and were taken at the time of their dis- 
covery; with the exception of one set all of 
these were fresh. It is probable that some of 
these were incomplete. A few of the birds 
may have deposited their full clutches by May 
12th, but the height of the breeding season is 
from the 18th to the 22d, when more complete- 
sets of fresh eggs are found than at any earlier 
or later date. I have seen the young, just 
from the nest, on June 4th. 
It is more profitable for the collector to 
look only for the nests when following this 
species, and I soon learned that more nests 
could be found by this mode of procedure 
than by watching the birds. Only three or 
four of the number I found were discovered 
by noting the actions of the birds. 
The actions of the female when it returns, 
after the nest has been taken, cannot but affect 
the heart of the most unfeeling. Fluttering 
from branch to branch it approaches and gets 
as close as possible to the site of the nest. 
Failing to see its home it seems to conclude 
that it is suffering from an optical delusion, so 
15S9. [ Breeding of the ] Prairie Warbler in New Hampshire. By 
F. H. Herrick. Ibid., No. 31, p. 309. Sci* 9 H 0 «, YoT.II 
it flies directly into the space where the nest 
should be, and hovers there, turning its head 
from side to side, apparently bewildered. All 
the while it utters only a single note at short 
intervals. An uncomfortable feeling of shame 
at having robbed the helpless little creature 
would never allow me to remain long enough 
to see when the bird became convinced that 
the nest had actually disappeared. 
If taken when fresh the eggs are of a deli- 
cate pink color before being blown, as is usual 
with small eggs having a white shell. This 
generally fades to a dead white when the con- 
tents are removed, though sometimes a shade 
of cream color remains. In a few sets a faint 
shade of green is noticeable. 
The markings are too varied for me to at- 
tempt to describe them; while some sets are 
finely dotted about the larger ends others are 
spotted and blotched over their whole surface. 
The nests are trim little structures, deeply 
cupped, and their brims are invariably con- 
tracted more or less. So deep are they that 
when the bird is sitting only the tips of its 
bill and tail extend above the brim. The 
composition is of soft, fibrous, vegetable sub- 
stances, usually lined with hair; often the 
lining is wholly of line grasses, and sometimes 
a quantity of hair moss is found in it. 
This species and the Cardinal, Yellow- 
breasted Chat, Towhoe, Ovenbird, and Field 
Sparrow seem to be the most abundant of tlie 
birds in that locality throughout the breeding 
SGfLSOH* IlciTVy A. J CLUYlXSO'fl • 
Manayunk, Pliila. O A O. XIV. June. 1889 p.85-8d 
