Life histories of North American wood warblers, Part 1 (of 2)Bent, Arthur Cleveland
Science
Life histories of North American wood warblers, Part 1 (of 2)
Bent, Arthur Cleveland
Birds -- North America; Passeriformes; Wood warblers
Milton B. Trautman (1940), speaking of the spring migration at Buckeye
Lake, Ohio, shows that the male birds are preponderant in the earliest
flights. He says: "The first spring arrivals, chiefly males, were noted
between April 16 and 30, and between May 1 and 5, 2 to 15 birds, mostly
males, could be daily noted. The peak of migration usually lasted from
May 6 to May 18, and then from 3 to 42 individuals, consisting of a few
old males and the remainder females and young males, were daily
observed. On May 18 or shortly thereafter a decided lessening in numbers
occurred, and by May 23 all except an occasional straggler had left."
_Courtship._--Forbush (1929) gives this hint of courtship, which
resembles the activities of most warblers at this season: "When the
females arrive there is much agitation, and often a long-continued
intermittent pursuit, with much song and fluttering of black and white
plumage, and much interference from rival males before the happy pair
are united and begin nesting."
_Nesting._--The black-and-white warbler usually builds its nest on the
ground, tucking it away against a shrub or tree, or even under the
shelter of an overhanging stone or bank. The nest is generally concealed
among an accumulation of dead leaves which, arching over it, hides it
from above. It is made, according to A. C. Bent (MS.), "of dry leaves,
coarse grass, strips of inner bark, pine needles and rootlets, and is
lined with finer grasses and rootlets and horsehair." I have seen a nest
made chiefly of pine needles on a base of dry leaves.
Henry Mousley (1916), writing of Hatley, Quebec, mentions moss as a
component part of the nest, and says of three nests that they were all
"heavily lined with long black and white horse hairs," a peculiarity of
coloration mentioned in one of Mr. Bent's nests. Thomas D. Burleigh
(1927b) speaks of a nest in Pennsylvania "built of dead leaves and
rhododendron berry stems, lined with fine black rootlets and a few white
hairs." H. H. Brimley (1941) describes an exceptional nest. He says:
"There was no particular departure from normal in its construction
except for the fact that it was lined with a mixture of fine rootlets
and very fine copper wire, such as is used in telephone cables.
Fragments of such cable, discarded by repair men, were found nearby
where a telephone line ran through the woods."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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