Breeding of the Cerulean Warbler (<I>Dendroica corulea</I>) in Niagara County, New York

430

^GeneralNote.

chartniin,and which weresaidto havepassed ontothenortliwardfrom there.

Two

years ago,perhaps not solong(not having'

my

'Auk'to reler to Icannot tell),aBachman's Warbler was sent to

Washington

from

Sombrero

Light

House

byitskeeper,andasthe

Sombrero

iseastwardand north of

Cape

Sable,thiswould

show

atendencyofthe speciestomigrate

/// the East Coast, taking

Cape

Sableand itsvicinity as thediverging point.

"Iwillsend youthe entireseriesofBachman's Warblersinafewdays;

the collection

now numbers

sixteenwellmarkedadults,two

young

females, andtwoothers thatIatfirstthoughtto beBachman's Warblers,but

now

feelsure are not."

Mr. Atkins concludes^{his letter}ofAugustywith

some

veryinstructive notes on the migrationsof otherWarblers, Vireos, andthe like, atthe pointwhere he^islocated,whichnotesIhope topresenttothereaders of 'TheAuk'atanearly dayina

more

detailed

manner

thanpresent space permits.

— W.

E.D. Scott,

Tarpon

Springs,Florida.

Dendroica coronata ^at

Key West

in

Summer. —

Mr.J.

W.

Atkinshas torwardedto

me

for examination an individual ofthis species takenby liimat

Key

West,Florida,onJuly28,188S. Itisanadultfemalebird in very

worn

plumage.

— W.

E.D. Scott,

Tarpon

Springs,Florida.

Breedingof the Cerulean Warbler {Dc7tdroica c(ernlea) in Niagara County,

New

York.

— On May

30, iSSS,whilepassingthroughalargewood,

Inoticedanestona fork of a horizontallimbofasmallbasswoodtree, whichItooktobethe nestof theLeastFlycatcher

{Empidonax

minimus).

Ialsosawa pair of birdsina largetree,neartheonecontaining thenest, butIwas unabletoidentifythem.

On

June8Ifoundthe birdonthenest, and onitsleavingI shotit andwassurprisedtofindthatitwasafemale Dendroica^ccerulea.

The

nestcontained threeeggs

when

secured,butone ortwo^fellfromthe nest

when

the birdleftit. Incubationwasnearlycom- plete,anditwas withdifficultythatIsucceededinsavingtwo goodspeci-

mens

andthebrokenshellof thethird. Ididnotsucceedinsecuring the male, butan hour beforeinanotherpieceof

woods

halfamile distant I

hadshotby mistake another maleofthisspecies,whichwasalso a surprise, asIhad foundbuttwoofthisspecies duringten years' collecting inthis County, and theywerebothmalebirds,taken

May

10,1882,and

May

11, 1883,andnotovertenrods apart. Ihad

come

totheconclusion thatthey were to be found here only during migration, and rarelythen.

On

leaving the

woods

aftersecuringthisnest,

we

passed intoan oldpasture lotor clearinginwhich were a few small trees left standing,andwhile diggingout asetof foureggsof the Yellow-belliedSapsucker{Sp/iyra- piciisvarius)Inoticedanotherpair oi'Z>.ceerulea,and on watchingthem foundtheywerebuilding a nest ina smallbasswood,alsoon the forkof ahorizontal limb,about twentyfeetfrom the ground and eight feetout from the trunk. I

am

so particular in describing the positionof these nests, asin^'North American^Birds,'Baird,Brewer and Ridgway,Vol.I,

GeneralNotes.

431

p.236,

Audubon

isquotedasfindingone" placed in the forks ofa low treeor bush, partly pensile, projectingalittleabovethetwigstowhichit isattached,and extending below

them

nearlytwoinches,"while these are placedonthetop of the limb,whichisfrom onehalfto three quarters of aninchindiameter,andthenest doesnotextendbelowthecentre.

The

dimensions of the nest areoutsidetwo andahalf inches acrossby two inches deep, insideoneandseven eighthsby one and aquarter inches.

Audubon

isalsoquotedassaying, "

The

eggsare five innumber,ofa pure whitewith afew reddish spots about the larger end,"while these arebluishwhitewithawreathof reddish

brown

andlilacspots aboutthe larger end,andsmall

brown

dotsover thewholeegg.

The

dimensions of thetwosaved are.70

X

.52and.71

X

.52 inches. Isentthemale and femaleD.ccerulea to Dr.A.K. Fisher, ofWashington.

On

June 23 I secured thesecondnestand eggs, also the female,but did not succeed in finding the male.

The

nest contained three eggs, also one eggof the Cowbird. These eggs are not as large as the first, measuring only .64

X

.50, .63

X

.49, .64

X

.50inches.

The

general coloris thesame,but thewreath aboutthe largeendisnot asdistinct.

The

nestsare

made

of thefibreof thethistleandsparingly covered with lichens,andlinedwitha

brown

hair-likesubstance thatIdonot

know

the

name

of.

On

June30I

found anothernestinapieceof

woods

aboutonemilefrom whereI took the others,butitwastoohightobe secured,and from the action of the femaleIconcludeditcontainedyoung.

On

July4I securedthree adult birds,one male and two females, also three young; allbutonefemale weretaken withintwentyrods ofwhereIsecured thetwonestsandeggs.

One

femaleand two

young

weresentto Dr.A. K.Fisher,and one male and femaleand one

young

were sent to the Smithsonian Institution.

July7^Ivisited the

same

place and saw another broodof three

young

which seemedtobe able tofly aswell as the adults,although the old birdswerefeedingthem;Ididnottry tosecure anyof these. July14 I could notfindoneofthisspeciesatthesameplace. July21Ifounda late bi-ood,butsecuredonly the adult female and one

young

which Isentto theAmerican

Museum

of Natural History,

New York

City,atthe request ofMr._J.A.Allen. All the

young

ofthisspeciestakenresemblethe adult femalewith the exception that theyhave3'ellowish

downy

feathersonthe breastand edgeofwing.

On

July 2SIagainvisitedthe

same

place,but did not see aBlue

War

bierand

came

tothe conclusion thattheyhad

moved

southward.

In'NorthAmericanBirds^'Dr.Brewersays thathe hasbeen informed thatthisspecies" abounds andbreeds in thevicinity ofNiagaraFalls,"

although hedoes not say thatanj^ nestsor eggs weresecured,and as he alsosays"little is

known

ofitsbreeding habits,"Ihaveherebeen

more

explicit inregardto

my

observationsthanIotherwiseshould havebeen.

—

J.L.Davison, Lockport,

Niagara

County,

N.

T.

DendroicacaeruleaatSeymour,Connecticut.

— On May

10,1888,Ishot afine adult female Cerulean Warbler from a flockofParula Warblers