62 
ORNITHOLOGIST 
[Vol. 6-No. 8. 
Blue Yellow-backed Warbler 
NESTING ON SHELTER ISLAND. 
1 think most of the ornithological writers 
have been mistaken in naming the breed¬ 
ing range of the Parula ainericana. 
Minot says in “ Land and Game Birds of 
N. E,” page 416, “Very rare in summer 
so far soulli as Massachusetts. Maynard, 
in “ Birds of Eastern North America,” 
says: “ A few remain in southern New 
England to breed, but the majority spend 
the summer in the more northern section.” 
The Blue Yellow-backed Warbler breeds as 
abundantly in this town, if not more so, 
than in any part of Northern New Eng¬ 
land, as I have collected sixteen sets of 
their eggs, and seen fully as many more, 
within the past three years, and have at¬ 
tained a jiretty accurate knowledge of their 
habits. They arrive about the first of May 
and usually spend two or three weeks in 
mating before they begin to build. The I 
nest is invariably built in a bunch of long 
green moss, and lined more or less with the 
same dun colored plant down that the Yel- ; 
low Warblers use for the same purpose, 
but the Blue Yellow-backs use it more spar 
ingly. They sometimes weave one or two ‘ 
horse hairs and rarely a piece of fine grass ; 
into the nest; and these are the only mate¬ 
rials used on this island. 
The first nest that came to my notice was ' 
neither globular nor pensile, as they usually ' 
are, but completely open at the top like a 
Yellow Warbler’s, and placed in a small ce¬ 
dar bush not three feet from the ground, on | 
high land, being a very unusual position. 
The nest is usually placed in a bush or 
small tree in swamps or swampy places, and 
usually about ten or twelve feet up. I have 
seen two nests that were attached to the ' 
side of the trunks of large trees at the same 
height. 'I'he number of eggs laid is four 
and sometimes five. I found one nest 
that contained eight eggs, six of which are 
in my collection now, the other two having . 
been broken in removing them from the , 
nest. The nest is of the usual size, and i 
\ the eggs were piled upon each other in two 
1 layers. They must have been laid by two 
; females as part of them were addled. The 
nest is generally purse-shaped, with the en¬ 
trance at the side near the top, and differs 
in bulk according to the size of the bunch 
; of moss in which it is built, and I believe 
that more moss is brought in some instan- 
I ces to finish the nest. The Blue Yellow¬ 
backs breed commonly on Gardiner’s Isl¬ 
and, as 1 saw two nests there nearly ready 
for the eggs on May 17th, 1879, which is 
about two weeks earlier than they lay on 
Shelter Island. If collectors had known 
the right place to look for the nests, they 
would have been found long ago in greater 
Lumbers and further south than most writ¬ 
ers on the subject have led us to believe.— 
IP. IV. Worthington. 
——— 
Black-capped Yellow Warbler. 
ITS NESTING HABITS. 
The beautiful little ^fyiodioctes pussillus 
arrives here about the.twentieth of April 
the males coming about one week before 
the females. They raise two broods each 
season The first nest I found was on .May 
16th and the young had come to maturity 
and flown. This nest was placed in a wild 
blackberry vine two and one-half feet from 
the ground, and in the very thickest part of 
the vine The nest was composed of very j 
fine dry grass, bits of moss and dead leaves, i 
and lined with fine fibrous roots. The fe- j 
male alone builds the nest, but the male can | 
be seen following her around and singing J 
to cheer her in the work. I can discover 
no difference between the song of this War- 
blerand that of the Yellow Warbler 
draca (estiva.) I found another nest on j 
June 15th containing a set of four eggs. In- I 
cubation had begun. The eggs, when ! 
fresh, have a pinkish color like most of the 
Warblers. This effect is produced by the 
yelk showing through a transparent shell. 
When blown the ground color is white with 
fine reddish spots around the larger end. 
This nest was in blackberry vines eight feet 
