66 
THE BLACK- AND-YELLOW WOOD-WARBLER. 
me. This happened in the neighbourhood of Eastport. By the end of a 
fortnight, the greater part of them had pushed farther north. I met them 
wherever I landed in the neighbouring islands, and along the shores of the 
Bay of Fundy, as well as in the Straits of Can so, the Magdeleine Isles, and 
Labrador. I have no doubt that the extraordinary congregation which I saw 
near Eastport, was caused by the foresight of the tiny travellers, aware that 
they could not at so early a period proceed farther without imminent danger. 
Many of these birds, however, remain and breed in the State of Maine, and 
in the British Provinces. 
The Black-and-Y ello w Warbler has a clear and sweetly modulated song, 
surpassing that of many other birds of its tribe. It sinus in the interior of 
the low woods, to which it seems at all times to give a decided preference. 
Its motions are extremely graceful ; its tail is constantly spread as it flits 
along the branches, or even while it is on the ground, to which it frequently 
betakes itself, and its wings are usually held in a drooping position, so as to 
display all the beauty of its plumage. It feeds on insects and their larvae. 
Now and then it may be seen balancing itself in the air, opposite a cluster of 
leaves, among which it darts to secure its prey ; and not unfrequently it 
emerges a few feet from among the foliage of a tree or bush, to seize a 
fluttering insect. In catching its prey, it does not produce the clicking 
sound, caused by the sudden meeting of the mandibles, so remarkable in 
some other species. 
The nest, which is placed deep among the branches of low fir trees, is 
supported by horizontal twigs, and is constructed of moss and lichens, lined 
with fibrous roots, and a great quantity of feathers. In one, found in 
Labrador, in the beginning of July, there were five small eggs, rather more 
elongated than is usual in the genus. They were white, sprinkled with 
reddish dots near the larger end. The female, on being disturbed, spread 
out her wings and tail, fluttered along the branches in the agony of despair, 
lingered trembling about the spot, and returned to the nest while we were 
only a few yards distant from it. 
During the first days of August, I saw many of the young following their 
parents, and perceived that some were already on their way southward. 
While in the Bay of St. George, Newfoundland, I again saw these birds 
daily, although they became scarcer the longer we remained in the country. 
I also traced their retrograde flight into Nova Scotia, but on landing in the 
United States lost sight of them. 
This beautiful Warbler is, according to Dr. Richardson, a common bird 
on the banks of the Saskatchewan river, where it enlivens the thickets of 
young spruce trees and willows with its agreeable notes. It was not observed 
by Mr. Townsend on the Rocky Mountains or along the Columbia river. 
