The Maryland Yellow-throat. 
(Oeothlypis trichas.) 
BY CHAS. 8. ANDROS, TAUNTON, MASS. 
This beautiful little bird, also known as the 
Black-masked Ground Warbler, is generally 
ranked as common in this part of the State. It 
abounds along the brooks and swampy lands, in- 
habiting bushes on the edges of creeks and ponds. 
The male cannot be mistaken after once being 
seen. The black mask completely covering the 
head, and handsome yellow throat are his most 
prominent features. The female is of a much 
duller hue, and her modest plumage is in great 
contrast with that of her male. They arrive in 
early May and may be easily approached, not 
having that fear of man so often displayed by 
others of the family. The female, I believe, is 
rarely seen unless flushed from her nest. After 
her treasures are removed, she takes a silent fare- 
well and is-not seen about the locality again. 
Walking along beside some swampy land, a male 
will take alarm at the sound of your footsteps 
and fly from some bunch of ferns near at hand, 
quickly followed by another and another, until 
half a dozen have flown from the spot, and it is a 
mystery where they go. But if you proceed, 
another flock will leave the next large clump of 
ferns. Whether they believe in concealment or 
what their motive is, is to be solved. I have 
watched the ferns where they disappear, for 
perhaps twenty minutes, and not a sign, but move 
towards their place of concealment they immedi- 
ately leave. Their nest is built in the latter part 
of May. Earliest date for fresh set, .Tune 4. Latest 
date, June 17. The latter nest taken during the 
season of ’82, contained five eggs of pure white 
ground and marked with scrawls and spots about 
the crown, with one or two black spots resembling 
a dot of “India ink.” The nest is placed on or 
near the ground in some swampy land, composed 
of loaves and grass and lined with fibres and grass, 
arched over and with a small entrance. I have 
remained in close proximity with one some time 
before discovery. A nest found last season in a 
very low bush contained four fresh eggs. The 
bottom of the nest was thickly tenanted by black 
ants, evidently not in a very peaceable frame of 
mind, as my hand and arm testified on reaching 
home. How the female could share her home 
with such unwelcome guests, I cannot imagine. 
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Bird Caught by a Spider-: 
You encourage correspondence, so I will venture to relate a 
little incident of last Summer which may not be new to old 
ornithologists, but was of interest to ine. While endeavor- 
ing to add a few skins to my collection, I was attracted to 
the border of an open wood, last June, by a great commo- 
tion in a tree-top. Cautiously approaching. I found quite an 
excited assembly of little birds regarding with great anxi- 
ety a little yellow friend, who was fluttering and crying in 
great distress. He seemed to me to be hanging in mid air, 
but upon climbing the tree, I found that he was entangled 
in a spider’s web, from which his most violent struggles as 
I approached could not extricate him. The spider, one of 
those large yellow-bellied fellows, was actively engaged in 
winding him deeper and deeper in the meshes. The bird (a 
Maryland Yellow-throat.) was caught by the legs, head and 
one wing. 1 stayed near by until he was nearly done out, 
then broke him loose with a branch, and had the satisfac- 
tion of having him sit quite near to me and relieve himself 
of the remains of the web, and also observed the discom- 
flture of the spider. ££ * <y}***'. 
O.&O. IX. Feb. 188 A. p. -tv 
Nesting of the Maryland Yellow- 
throat. 
BY WILLARD L. MARIS, WEST CHESTER, PA. 
.A very interesting and quite common little 
bird of this locality, the Maryland Yellow- 
throat, {Oeothlypis trichas ) has for some time 
baffled my efforts to find its nest. However, 
this spring, I found the long looked for treas- 
ure, a beautiful set of five eggs. 
This well-known bird arrives in this locality 
about the tenth of May, and after a few days 
spent in selecting a suitable nesting ground, at 
once commences building. During the incubat- 
ing period, the female is seldom seen, unless a 
close approach to the nest, where almost her 
whole time is occupied, is made ; and even then 
as soon as the nest is touched she will vanish 
in the woods. The males may be seen fre- 
quently and quite often not in the locality of 
the nest, which, together with the fact of its 
being placed on the ground in the woods at the 
foot of a bush, and being sometimes domed 
over, renders it no easy matter to find it. 
On the 28th of May, of the present year, 
when on a collecting tour a few miles from 
home, I chanced to see a male Yellow-throat 
fly from the edge of a woods. It being a favor- 
able place for this bird of course I immediately 
began a search, but for fully fifteen minutes no 
trace of a nest could be found, and I nearly 
trod on it before the female flew away, thus 
showing me her hiding place. The nest was 
made chiefly of bark, and lined with a little 
horse-hair, and located in the usual place 
which this bird chooses, namely— on the 
ground at the foot of a small bush. It was 
rather bulky for so small a bird, and the black 
lining well set off the five fresh, pinkish tinted 
eggs. The brownish red spots were scattered 
all over the eggs, although chiefly in a ring 
around the larger end. On two there were a 
few small blotches. In size they were some- 
what smaller than eggs of this bird usually are, 
measuring: .62x.47; .59x.48; .Glx.47; .59 x 
.47 and .61 x48. 0.& O. XII. Oct. 1887 p.*e» /6i 
16. Oeothlypis trichas. Maryland Yellow- 
tliroat. A nest found in May contained one 
Co wbird’ s egg. 
Q.& O. XI VpSept. 1£89 p to .■ 
