THE WORM-EATING SWAMP- WARBLER. 
87 
they raise only a single brood in the year. They are ever amongst tho 
decayed branches of trees or other plants, such as are accidentally broken off 
by the wind, and are there seen searching for insects or caterpillars. They 
also resort to the ground, and turn over the dried leaves in quest of the same 
kind of food. They are unsuspecting, and will suffer a person to approach 
within a few paces. When disturbed, they fly off to some place where 
withered leaves.are seen. They have only a few weak notes, which do not 
deserve the name of song. Their industry, however, atones for this defect, 
as they are seen continually moving about, rustling among the leaves, and 
scarcely ever removing from one situation to another until after they have 
made a full inspection of the part in which they have been employed. 
This species reaches the Central Atlantic Districts in the middle of May, 
and breeds there, as well as farther northward. I have found them more 
numerous in the Jerseys than in any other portion of the Union. In 
Kentucky and Ohio I have seen only a few of them ; nor have I ever found 
their nests in either of these States. 
According to Dr. Richardson, this species visits the Fur Countries, 
where a single specimen was produced at Cumberland House, on the banks 
of the Saskatchewan. It is found in the State of Maine, and in the British 
Provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, but I did not meet with it 
farther eastward. None were seen on the Rocky Mountains, or about the 
Columbia river, by Mr. Townsend. My friend Dr. Bachman says that it 
breeds sparingly in the swamps of Carolina. He observed a pair followed 
by three or four young ones nearly fledged, all of which already exhibited 
the markings on the head. 
The eggs of this species measure five and a half eighths of an inch in length, 
and half an inch in breadth; the smaller end is rather rounded ; its colour 
and markings as already described, though I have seen some more copiously 
marked than others, and the cream-colour of their ground tinged with a 
rosy hue. 
The plant on which you see a pair of Worm-eating Warblers is well 
known throughout the United States by the name of polceberry. It grows 
in every situation, from the tops of the most arid mountain-ridges to the 
lowest and richest valleys ; and it is almost impossible to follow a fence for a 
hundred yards without seeing some of it. Its berries are food for numerous 
species of our birds, and produce a beautiful dark crimson juice, which is 
used instead of red ink by some of the country people, although it does not 
retain its original colour for many days. .This plant grows to the height of 
four or six feet, and is eaten when it first shoots from the ground as a 
substitute for asparagus, quantities of it being not unfrequently exposed in the 
markets. The juice of the berries is taken in cases of ague and continued 
