Nesting of the Kentucky Warbler in 
Chester and Delaware Coun- 
ties, Penn. 
Having been quite fortunate in finding nests 
of this Warbler ( Oeothlypia formosa) during 
the past season I thought that my experiences 
might be of interest to the. readers of the 
O. & O. 
Another year’s collecting leads me to think 
that my assertion, that the Kentucky War- 
bler probably bred more commonly in these 
two counties than anywhere else, was correct. 
To a practised person the nest of this bird is 
not very difficult to find, unless it should be 
placed on a hillside. 
They begin to breed often about the 18th of 
May. Some nests found by me this year must 
have had their full complement of eggs by the 
20th of May. Then on the Other hand my last 
set was taken on the 18th of June, and my 
brother took a set of four fresh eggs on the 
25th of June, and a nest was found on the 15th 
of July with young birds, so there is often a 
difference of a month between the incubation 
of different pairs. 
On the 21st of May I found my first nest this 
year. It was just finished, and 1 secured a 
fine set of five eggs exactly one week later 
(the 28th) from it. 
It was placed at the bottom and between 
the forks of a spicewood bush and was a very 
bulky nest. The 9 was not on the nest, and 
I presume had just laid one of the eggs tiiat 
morning. It was not more than ten yards 
from the edge of the woods. When I was 
packing up the eggs and nest there was no 
sign of the birds around, but when I again 
passed the spot about fifteen minutes later 
both birds were making a great noise. 
Tlie second nest was found on the 25th of 
May, and contained two eggs of the warbler 
and one of that pest, the Cowbird. I had been 
328. Kentucky Warbler. 
J-. Qp Short note on its-<nest and egg 
310. Kentucky Warbler [1 
By F. T. Jencks. Ibid . , VI, p 
looking for this nest for about two or three 
hours before I succeeded in finding it. The 
birds had been making a great deal of noise, 
and had been jumping up every few minutes 
from a clump of swamp cabbage. As there 
was a great deal of this plant in the woods 
and the wood was a large one, it can easily 
be seen that it was no easy matter to find 
that nest. At last I happened to glance down 
at a certain clump which contained the nest, 
but was somewhat disgusted to find it only had 
two eggs and one Cowbird. However, I 
secured four eggs of the warbler and the Cow- 
bird’s egg from it on the 28th. The 9 flushed 
very close and did not go more than ten feet 
from the nest while 1 was packing it up. 
The third nest was also found on the 28th of 
May and contained four fresh eggs. This was 
also near the edge oi a wood, not being more 
than six feet from the fence. This one, like 
nearly all the others, was at the foot and be- 
tween the forks of a spicewood bush. A 
peculiarity about this nest was that it was 
lined with white horse-hair, instead of the 
black rootlets and horse-hair one almost in- 
variably finds in nests of this species. This 
last nest was the third I had found that day 
and in a joking sort of way I said to my 
brother, “ I am going out now to make it 
four.” 
1 I walked to the nearest woods and had 
hardly gotten inside of it when I found another 
nest, this time with five eggs, which were 
incubated a few days. This one was situated 
in about the last place I ever expected to find 
a Kentucky Warbler’s nest. It was not more 
than twenty-five yards from a public road 
where there is a great deal of travel, and it 
was not nearly as well hidden as usual, as you 
could almost see the nest from the road. 
On the 30th of May my father, my brother 
and myself started out for a day’s trip. My 
brother found a fine set of five, but unfortu- 
nately they were nearly hatched and it was 
impossible to prepare them. This nest was 
situated right on the edge of -a road with 
woods on each side of it, and my brother, 
flushed the female. 
My fifth set was taken on the first of June 
and consisted of four eggs. It was situated 
like all the others, and I flushed the 9- 
The sixth sot was taken on tli e 3d of June, ' 
and contained four eggs of the warbler and 
one of the Cowbird. This nest was not more 
than fiftefen feet from a large field on the edge 
of a wood. Bird flushed. 
I did not take any more sets until the 18tli 
of June when I took my seventh and last set 
of four eggs, although I found three more nests 
containing young birds and two which appar- 
ently the birds bad deserted. 
My brother, Henry Nonas, took a set of four 
eggs on the 25th of June. The nest was not 
move than six feet from a public road where 
at least a hundred wagons go past every day, 
and the wood was very small. 
Result of season’s collecting: Myself, five 
sets of four, two sets of five, five nests not 
yielding any sets, three with young birds and 
two deserted, My brother found one set of 
four, one of five (too much incubated to pre- 
pare), and four nests with young birds. Total, 
eight sets, seven nests with young birds and 
two deserted. Not a bad season’s work, and X 
hope to do better next year. 
J. P. Norris, Jr. 
Philadelphia, Pa. 
O.&O, 13. 0 gt.i 890 . p. iyj 7 /y 6 . 
