Page:Bird-lore Vol 04.djvu/100

 The Increase of the Chestnut-Sided Warbler 79

equally difﬁcult to give any reason for the marked decrease in the number of the Brown Thrashers and apparent decrease in the Song Sparrows dur- ing the breeding season The Thrashers used to be very common, but during the past two years they have been, as already stared, noticeably scarce.

All the Chestnut-sided VVarbler's nests that I have found in this region in question, were placed in azalea and huckleberry bushes, mostly the for- mer, and always within three and a half feet of the ground, usually very much lower. The situation Chosen was in most instances near a fair-sized tree, not one being found in the more open part of the clearing. About

LllESTNU'I-MUED WARBLEK FEEDING mail Your; ox THE AUTHOR'S Hm)

the last week in April the birds arrive and their nests are built between May 20 and the middle of June. The nest. which requires from two to four days to build, is Composed of lightecolored plant-ﬁber and bark, with a lining of very ﬁne grass and roots.

Notwithstanding all that has been said about the extreme tameness of these birds, those that I have seen were very much less conﬁding than the Bluev winged and VVorm-cating \Varblersi In trying to secure photographs 0 them with their young I met with most scanty success. in spite of the many hours spent in the attempts, Once the young had left the nest the old birds seemed to lose some of their shyness, and in one Case I succeeded not only in obtaining photographs of the parent bird with its young perched