A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 1 of 3Baird, Spencer Fullerton
Science
A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 1 of 3
Baird, Spencer Fullerton
Birds -- North America
The nest he describes as placed in the forks of a low tree or bush,
partly pensile, projecting a little above the twigs to which it is
attached, and extending below them nearly two inches. The outer part
is composed of the fibres of vines and the stalks of herbaceous
plants, with slender roots arranged in a circular manner. The nest is
lined with fine dry fibres of the Spanish moss. The eggs are five in
number, of a pure white with a few reddish spots about the larger end.
When disturbed during incubation, the female is said to trail along
the branches with drooping wings and plaintive notes, in the manner of
_D. æstiva_. After the young have left the nest, they move and hunt
together, in company with their parents, evincing great activity in
the pursuit of insects. They are also said to have a great partiality
for trees the tops of which are thickly covered with grapevines, and
to occasionally alight on tall weeds, feeding upon their seeds.
In his visit to Texas, Mr. Audubon met a large number of these birds
apparently coming from Mexico. On one occasion he encountered a large
flock on a small island.
Mr. Nuttall mentions finding these birds very abundant in Tennessee
and also in West Florida.
In only a single instance has the writer met with this Warbler. This
was about the middle of June, at the Fairmount Water Works in the city
of Philadelphia, where, among the tops of the trees, a single
individual was busily engaged in hunting insects, undisturbed by the
large numbers and vicinity of visitors to the grounds. It kept in the
tops of the trees, moving about with great agility.
Mr. Ridgway gives the Cærulean Warbler as the most abundant species of
its genus in the Lower Wabash Valley, not only during the spring and
fall migrations, but also in the summer, when it breeds more
plentifully even than the _D. æstiva_. It inhabits, however, only the
deep woods of the bottom lands, where it is seldom seen, and only to
be distinguished by the naturalist. Inhabiting, mostly, the tree-tops,
it is an inconspicuous bird, and thus one that easily escapes notice.
In its habits it is perhaps less interesting than others of its genus,
being so retired, and possessing only the most feeble notes.
Dendroica blackburniæ, BAIRD.
BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER; ORANGE-THROATED WARBLER.
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