The Nashville warbler is common during the migrations in many parts of
the country, but seems to be scarce or entirely wanting locally. Thus,
in Lorain county, Ohio, as well as in Poweshiek county, Iowa, it is
always one of the commonest warblers during the first and second weeks
of May, and again during the second and third weeks of September, while
it is not reported from Wayne county, Ohio, by Mr. Harry C. Oberholser
in his "List of the Birds of Wayne county, Ohio." There are other
instances of its rarity or absence from restricted localities. Its
range extends from the Atlantic ocean west to eastern Nebraska, and
north into Labrador and the fur countries, occasionally wandering even
to Greenland. It winters in the tropics south of the United States.
In the northward migration it reaches Texas about the third week
in April and Manitoba near the end of the first week in May, thus
passing completely across the country in about three weeks. A careful
computation proves that the average rate at which this warbler traveled
across the country, in the spring of 1885, was nearly forty miles a
day. A single year, however, might show a considerable departure from
the normal rate of migration. This instance is given to show any who
may not be familiar with the phenomena of bird migration that small
birds, at least, do not perform their whole migration in a single
flight, but rest a good deal by the way.
The migrating Nashville warblers, in my experience, prefer the
outskirts of the larger woods, but may be found anywhere in the
smaller woods, preferring the middle branches, rarely ascending to the
tree-tops, not seldom gleaning near the ground in the underbrush, or
even among the leaves on the ground. They are by no means confined to
the woods, but glean as boldly and sing as cheerfully among the fruit
and shade trees in town, but they are more numerous in the woods.
The song has been compared to that of the chestnut-sided warbler and
the chipping sparrow combined. To my ear the Nashville warbler's song
is enough unlike the song of any other bird to be easily recognized
after a single hearing. Rev. J. H. Langille's rendering: "_Ke tsee,
ke tsee, ke tsee, chip ee, chip ee, chip ee, chip_," is a close
approximation, but seems somewhat lacking in the true expression of
the first part of the song. My note book renders it thus: "_K tsip, k
tsip, k tsip, k tsip, chip ee, chip ee, chip ee, chip_." The first part
of the song is thus halting, with a considerable pause between the
phrases, while the last part is uttered more rapidly and with little
effort. This song, issuing from the trees in every direction, is always
closely associated in the writer's mind with the early morning hours,
the dripping trees and the sweet incense of the flower-decked woods and
bursting buds.
While feeding, these warblers often gather into groups of a dozen or
twenty individuals, and may be associated with other species, thus
forming a considerable company. The warbler student is familiar with
the waves of warblers and other small birds which range through the
woods, now appearing in a bewildering flutter of a hundred wings, now
disappearing in their eager quest for a lunch of insects.
The breeding-range of this warbler extends as far south as Connecticut
in the East, and Michigan and Minnesota, if not northern Iowa in the
West, and north to the limit of its range. In common with the other
members of this genus, the Nashville warbler nests on the ground,
usually in a spot well protected by dried grasses and other litter of
the previous year's growth, often in a tangle of shrubs, ferns and
bushes. The nest is sometimes sunk flush with the surface, and is
composed of grasses, mosses, pine needles, strips of bark and leaves,
lined with finer material of the same sort and with hair-like rootlets,
the composition varying with the locality. The eggs are pure white or
creamy-white, marked with spots and dots of reddish-brown and the usual
lilac shell-markings, which are grouped more or less around the larger
end. They are four or five in number, and average about .61 × .48 of an
inch.
The spring males may readily be recognized in the bush by their small
size, by the bright yellow underparts, by their ashy heads and back,
and by their habit of feeding in the middle branches of the trees down
to the underbrush. The concealed rufous spot on the crown, from which
the bird takes its scientific specific name, can rarely be seen in the
live bird, no doubt chiefly because the bird is perpetually above you.
[Illustration: FROM COL. CHI. ACAD. SCIENCES.
NASHVILLE WARBLER.
Life-size.
COPYRIGHT 1899,
NATURE STUDY PUB. CO., CHICAGO.]