24 
THE YELLOW-CROWNED WOOD-WARBLER. 
rambled among the low bushes of the gardens, and often dived among the 
large cabbage-leaves, where they searched for worms and larvae. At night, 
they roosted on the branches of the orange trees, in the luxuriant groves so 
abundant in that country. Frequentl} 7 , in the early part of warm mornings, 
I saw flocks of them fly off to sea until they were out of sight, and again 
observed their return to land about an hour after. This circumstance I 
considered as indicative of their desire to migrate, and as showing that 
their journeys are performed by day. 
In the beginning of May, I found them so abundant in Maine, that the 
skirts of the woods seemed alive with them. They appeared to be merely 
waiting for warmer weather, that they might resume their journey north- 
wards. As wc advanced towards Labrador, I observed them at every place 
where we happened to land. They were plentiful in the Magdeleine Islands ; 
and when we landed on the Labrador coast, they were among the first birds 
observed by our party. 
As Professor MacCulloch of Halifax, Nova Scotia, informed me, few 
breed in the province of Nova Scotia, nor had his sons, who are active 
collectors, ever found one of their nests in the vicinity of that town. I am 
indebted to his liberality for a nest with four eggs, which formed part of his 
fine collection. Although they are abundant in Labrador, we did not find 
any of their nests ; but we had the good fortune to procure several young 
birds scarcely able to fly. The nest above mentioned was placed near the 
extremity of the branch of a low fir-tree, about five feet from the ground. 
It resembles that of the Sylvia cestiva of Latham, being firm, compact, the 
outer parts formed of silky fibres from different plants attached to the twigs 
near it by means of glutinous matter, mixed with stripes of the inner bark 
of some tree unknown to me. Within this is a deep and warm bed of thistle- 
down, and the inner layer consists of feathers and the fine hair of small 
quadrupeds. The eggs are rather large, of a light rosy tint, the shell thin 
and transparent ; they are sparingly dotted with reddish-brown near the 
larger end, but in a circular manner, so that the extremity is unspotted. 
This species feeds on insects, is an expert fly catcher, and a great devourer 
of caterpillars. During winter, however, its principal food consists of berries 
of various kinds, especially those of the myrtle and pokeweed. They also 
feed on the seeds of various grasses. When, at this season, a warm day 
occurs, and the insects arc excited to activity, the Warblers are sure to be 
seen in pursuit of them. The rows of trees about the plantations are full of 
them, and from the topmost to the lowest branches, they are seen gliding 
upwards, downwards, and in every direction, in full career after their prey, 
and seldom missing their aim. At this time of the year, they emit, at every 
movement, a single tweet , so very different from that of any other "W arbler, 
