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
J. Warren Jacobs (1904) describes the nest much as above and adds: "The
opening is not straight down, but slightly tilted, the jaggy leaf-stems
and bark sometimes reaching two or three inches above the rim of the
nest proper. As incubation advances, the rough rim on the lower edge of
the nest becomes broken down, and by the time the young birds are ready
to leave, this part of their home is worn smooth by the attendant
parents."
He gives the measurements of 17 nests as follows: "Outside 3.6 to 5.0
inches in diameter, and 3.0 to 5.0 inches in depth; and on the inside,
from 1.7 to 2.5 inches in diameter by 1.3 to 2.5 inches deep." These
measurements agree very closely with the records of several other
observers. Jacobs continues: "Seemingly before the birds have had time
to complete their nest, the female begins the deposition of the eggs.
Generally, where I had opportunity to watch the nests daily, or at
intervals between the beginning and completion of the set, the eggs were
laid on consecutive days, but in two or three instances it was noticed
that the laying missed a day."
_Eggs._--The set for the golden-winged warbler may consist of anywhere
from 4 to 7 eggs; 5 is perhaps the commonest number, but 4 is a common
number, and the larger numbers are increasingly rare. The eggs are ovate
or short ovate, and have only a slight luster. They are white or creamy
white, with a wide variety of markings in "auburn," "argus brown," "Mars
brown," "hazel," "Hay's brown," "liver brown," and "burnt umber," with
underlying speckles or spots of "light brownish drab" and "light
vinaceous drab." There is, also, much variation in the amount of
markings, some being very sparingly speckled and others are quite
heavily marked, with some of the spots assuming the proportions of
blotches. Occasionally small hairline scrawls, or scattered spots, of
brown so dark as to appear almost black, are found. The markings are
usually denser toward the large end. The measurements of 50 eggs average
16.7 by 13.0 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure
=18.6= by 13.0, 16.8 by =13.7=, =15.5= by 12.5, and 15.9 by =12.3=
millimeters (Harris).
_Young._--Jacobs (1904) states that the incubation period is 10 days and
that the young birds are able to leave the nest 10 days after hatching.
In a nest which Maunsell S. Crosby (1912) watched closely, the eggs
hatched on June 1 and the young flew on June 10.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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