70 
The Neiv 1 orh State College of F orestry 
the new pond of the Kanahwauke group. The site was a fallen 
branch among sapling stems, about six feet from the ground. No 
surrounding foliage protected the structure from observation from 
the open road only several feet away. There were four or five 
hatched young in this nest. When disturbed at such visitations to 
their nest, the parent birds utter a queer scolding note resembling 
a harsh smacking noise. 
9. Catbird. Dumetella carolinensis (Linn.') 
The Catbird is very common in the Guest House neighborhood. 
It frequents the shrubbery of the lake shores, nesting in the bushy 
tangles, feeding on the ripening fruits of the summer, and uttering 
its sweet songs in subdued manner as the season advances and ebbs, 
lurking in the thickets where it can give itself to its melodious 
crooning without observation. The Catbird is one of the most 
gifted of our native songsters, as well as the author of a harsh cat- 
like call. 
10. American Bedstart. Setophaga ruticilla (Linn.) 
The Bedstart is one of the common birds of the Guest House 
neighborhood. On June 12 I found a nest of the Bedstart in the 
top of an apple tree alongside the stone wall near the garage 
at the Guest House. It was in an upright fork, about twelve 
feet from the ground. I found the nest by watching the female 
as she made repeated trips to the tree in working on the nest. 
Later I examined this nest, after it had been deserted, and found 
two eggs in it, the owner having probably been frightened from 
the place by parties passing along the road trying to knock green 
apples from the tree. Previous to this I had not known an instance 
of a Bedstart choosing a site for a nest in a domesticated fruit tree, 
hence I mention it here. Another nest of the Bedstart on the 
Guest House lot was in a young blue beech (Carpinus ) , in the 
grove on the west side of the front yard. The site was typical, in 
an upright fork of a small branch and the main stem, about ten 
feet from the ground. The nest is a snug little structure, fitting 
firmly in the fork, and made of grayish bark strippings, with a 
lining of finer grasses and horsehair (Fig. 23). 
