Bds. Ob8. near Graylock Mt. Berkshire 
Co. Mass. June 28 -July 10. W. Faxon 
60. Geothlypis Philadelphia. Mourning Warbler. — Common. 
Noted at altitudes from 1000 to 3500 feet, one pair at least being established 
in the edge of the clearing on the summit of Gray lock. Especially abundant 
where the forest has been cut on the south side of the ‘Bellows-Pipe’ in 
Adams. Wherever the land has been recently cleared, but not appro- 
priated for pasturage or tillage, the Mourning Warbler is found, the 
most characteristic tenant of the dense ‘sprout growth’ that forms the 
vanguard of the succeeding forest. By widening the domain of this 
lovelv bird the wood-cutter atones, in a measure, for the destruction he 
causes. The voice of the Mourning Warbler is full. The song that I 
most often heard resembles the syllables thur-ree. thur-rce , thdr-ree (some- 
times the repetition was four times instead ot three). A refrain consisting 
of three notes, with the accent upon the last, or of two notes with a strong 
accent on the first, the voice falling on the second, was sometimes ap- 
pended. At other times the form of the song was quite different, con- 
sisting of but five notes, the penultimate note strongly accented, the last 
pitched on a lower key. The last two notes together are equal in time to 
one of the first three. Something in the mode of delivery of the latter 
song suggests the song of the Water-Thrush, as Mr. Maynard* has 
observed. As far as I could determine, the same bird always followed 
one score. The Mourning Warbler, like the Golden-crowned Thrush, or 
its nearer relative, the Maryland Yellow-th roat, is much given to an 
ecstatic aerial song that defies description. On the first ot July I dis- 
covered a nest of this bird. It contained four young birds. On the 
seventh the young had flown and the nest was secured. It was placed 
about ten inches from the ground in a clump of young beech saplings. 
The body of the nest is composed of strips of bark and dry leaves, with a 
lining of fine black roots and horsehair. Many dead leaves are fastened 
to the outside. But slightly attached to the saplings the nest rests upon 
a loose platform of dry spruce twigs. The inside diameter is about two 
inches. Of large size and slovenlv construction the nest is not a very 
creditable specimen of Mniotiltine architecture. 
* Proc. Boston Spc. Nat. Hist., XIV, 362. 
Auk, VI. April, 188S. p. 103 - /£> V . 
Rare Warblers in Massachusetts. — In the wonderful flight or 
bird-wave, especially of the Mniotiltidae , that took place with us May 21 
and 22 last, and for some species continued during a few succeeding days, 
three Mourning Warblers, all males, were shot near Fresh pond, Cam- 
bridge. These, in the flesh, were kindly shown me by Mr. C. J. Maynard. 
At Framingham, f on the above-named dates, Mr. Browne and myself 
identified twenty species of Warblers — among them specimens of the Cape 
May, Tennessee, and Bay-breasted; of the last two several were obtained 
in Eastern Massachusetts. Among New England Warblers, collectors 
here consider Geothlypis Philadelphia to be the rarest, and Dendrceca tig - 
rina next in scarcity. Helminth op hila peregrina and Dendreeca casta- 
nea follow, though in the fall migrations this latter species occurs in mod- 
erate numbers with more or less regularity. — II. A. Purdte, Newton, 
Mass. 
Bull N.O.O, 7,Oot.l682.P. J? 6' 3 . 
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