Part 70

Courtship.--Nothing is known of the courtship behavior of this bird, owing to the difficulty of observation, the very restricted range of the bird, and the dearth of local observers.

Nesting.--Wayne was under the impression that he was the discoverer of the first known nest of this race, but search of the literature reveals that he was in error, though the first nests found were not recognized as those of waynei. Wayne secured the first eggs, and these still appear to be the only ones in existence, as all other breeding records deal with young birds. Authentic breeding information is exceedingly scanty, and since this is the case, all of the instances are mentioned herewith.

The first recorded breeding was in coastal North Carolina, and is mentioned by Pearson and the Brimleys (1919). They included it under the black-throated green warbler, as the species at that time had not been divided into two races. One nest was found at La Grange, Lenoir County, in June 1905 (Smithwick), and the other at Lake Ellis, Craven County, June 1910. Adults were seen feeding very young birds.

Continually impressed with the birds' presence in coastal South Carolina so late in spring, Wayne sought evidences of nesting and, on April 11, 1917, saw a female carrying nesting material in a large cypress swamp in Charleston County, but could not locate the nest. On the twenty-eighth of the same month he detected both a male and female in the same procedure but again failed to find the nest. His (1918) comment on this follows: "The brief account of this bird written in 'Birds of South Carolina' is, in the main, correct. Although I had never found it breeding when the book went to the press I was absolutely certain that it really bred on the coast." A year later, on April 28, 1918, he saw another female engaged in nest building, and again was unable to find the nest. Those who knew Wayne's untiring energy in such work can readily understand the extreme difficulty experienced in locating this elusive bird's home. It was on this last date that he secured the type specimen from which Bangs described the race. The following year finally brought success. Wayne (1919) states:

"On March 20, 1919, I visited the place where the type specimen was taken. * * * A few males were heard singing from the topmost branches of tall, gigantic, deciduous trees, and were also seen to fly into very tall pines." He again visited this spot on April eighteenth with Henry Moessner and the latter located a nest. It "was built in a live oak tree and on the end of a horizontal branch among twigs * * * absolutely concealed * * * about 38 feet above the ground." Wayne climbed a nearby tree and with Moessner's help from below, attempted to pull the oak limb toward him in order to reach the nest, when "sad to relate, without a moment's warning, the limb snapped off and the four fresh eggs that the nest contained were dashed in fragments on the ground."

The nest itself was preserved, and Wayne describes it as "small and compact, measuring 1-3/4 inches in height and 1-1/2 inches in depth. It is constructed of strips of fine bark and weed stems, over which is wound externally the black substance that is invariably present in the lining of the nests of Bachman's Warbler (Vermivora bachmanii). The interior * * * is chiefly composed of a beautiful ochraceous buff substance, doubtless from the unfolding leaves of some fern, and a few feathers."

On the twenty-eighth, ten days after this nest was found, Wayne returned to the swamp with the Misses Louise Ford and Marion Pellew and found "a very young bird just from the nest and unable to fly more than a few feet, being fed by the male parent, which shows that the birds breed irregularly."

The party proceeded to another part of the swamp where a female was seen to enter a large magnolia. "Miss Ford * * * saw the female go to her nest * * * built near the extremity of a long drooping magnolia limb, but on the horizontal portion of it and about 25 feet above the ground." This nest held four heavily incubated eggs, these being the first ones actually taken. This nest had a quantity of caterpillar silk binding the fibres of Spanish and hypnum moss outside, and was "lavishly lined with the beautiful ochraceous buff substance from young fern leaves, as in the first nest."

Edward S. Dingle (MS.) writes that "on the morning of April 25, 1923, a Wayne's warbler was observed building in a cypress tree; the bird collected material from the ground and also from the trunk of a large cypress nearby. The male was not seen." On the third of May following, I accompanied Wayne and Dingle to the site; there Dingle located the nest, climbed the tree, and secured it, with four eggs. This nest was 62 feet from the ground and 5 feet out from the trunk. This is the third, and last nest from South Carolina with eggs, on which data are extant. All, with the exception of the first, were in Wayne's collection at his death, and are now in the Charleston (S. C.) Museum. The sites in each case, were found by Wayne, but the nests were actually located by Moessner, Dingle, and Miss Ford.

Commenting on these discoveries, Wayne (1919) states: "I have known this bird ever since May 4, 1885 when I took a male in Caw-caw Swamp, Colleton County, S. C., while on a collecting trip with my friend, the late William Brewster. I gave the bird to him in the flesh, and in his collection it still remains. The nest and eggs have remained unknown until brought to light by this season's research."

Russell Richardson (1926) reported black-throated green warblers in the Dismal Swamp, on the North Carolina side, in June. No evidence of nesting was found by him, and he did not, apparently, realize that the birds he saw were waynei. In 1932 Drs. W. R. McIlwaine and J. J. Murray visited Dismal Swamp on May 23-26, and "found Wayne's warblers rather common." From Murray (1932) we find that they "heard two singing males on May 23rd as we came down the Washington Ditch to the Lake; two males singing on the 24th near the entrance to the Feeder Ditch * * * and six males on the 26th." They also found two family parties of adults feeding small birds on the 24th. One of these parties was near the mouth of the Feeder Ditch; the other a half mile up the Jericho Ditch from the Lake (Drummond). * * * The young birds were out of the nest and could fly well. They looked like big bumble-bees buzzing across from one tree to another; staying rather high up. The adults ranged low in gathering food, both male and female feeding the young birds.

Eggs.--The eggs of waynei are similar to those of virens. Wayne has described them (1919) as "of a white or whitish color speckled and spotted in the form of a wreath around the larger end with brownish red and lilac." The sets previously described are the only ones of which the writer is aware, and may be the only ones in collections. Whether any have ever been secured outside of South Carolina is doubtful. Measurements of Wayne's two sets average 16.79 by 12.25 and 15.12 by 12.03 mm., a trifle under the average for eggs of virens. The breeding records for the Dismal Swamp (Virginia) and two localities in North Carolina, concern young birds only.

Plumages.--Data available are not sufficient for a detailed description of the plumages but they are probably the same as those of virens.

Food.--No positive information on the food of waynei exists, as far as I can ascertain, except that in July 1939, G. H. Jensen examined the stomach contents of a single specimen secured by Howell and Burleigh at Murrells Inlet, S. C., June 5, 1932. It was full and contained 100 percent animal matter, consisting of 3 Lepidoptera larvae, 98 percent; 1 Formica sp., 2 percent. That the race is insectivorous goes without saying, but more than that remains to be worked out. Howell (1932) cites Barrows as saying that virens consumes plant lice, span-worms, and leaf-rollers together with berries of poison ivy. Probably waynei indulges similar tastes.

Behavior.--Wayne's warbler is essentially a high-ranging bird. It spends much of its time amid the topmost branches of cypress, magnolia, gum, and other swamp trees, rarely descending to even mid-sections of this characteristic growth while feeding. Highly restless and exceedingly active in movements, it is constantly on the go and, as a consequence, is rather difficult to see and study satisfactorily, the oft-repeated song being the best indication of its whereabouts. As might be supposed, the female is even more elusive, and flits about like some swamp wraith, silent and mysterious. The failure of as keen an observer as Wayne to locate the nests of building females gives an idea of its secretiveness.

In these respects it differs materially from virens, at least in my experience with that race, which is frequency found at rather low elevations. Doubtless the type of growth is responsible, for virens is a spruce-balsam-hemlock dweller, and these evergreens are dense trees with branches often beginning only a few feet from the ground, so that it can be seen and watched rather easily.

While several authors have referred to virens as a tame bird, the same cannot be said for waynei. In years of experience with the latter, I have always found it shy and retiring. Singing freely enough if unaware of observation, it often ceases when it detects an intruder, and since the song is one of the surest means of locating it, great care has to be taken in moving about, particularly near the nest.

The nest is impossible to find without watching the female, for it is more often than not completely invisible from the ground. D. v. waynei is found in the same habitat with yellow-throated and parula warblers, but, unlike them, never utilizes the hanging clumps of Spanish moss (Tillandsia) in which they invariably nest. I have climbed a tall cypress and collected a nest and eggs of D. d. dominica while waynei was singing in the near vicinity. The preference of waynei for heavy, old-growth swamp forests is so marked that if this timber is cut out, the bird disappears from the area completely, even though other growth is left standing. In the South Carolina Low Country, this characteristic is shared by both Bachman's and Swainson's warblers, both of which nest in heavy swamps.

Voice.--Though it was the cuckoo which Bryant characterized as "a wandering voice," he might well have written the words with respect to this tiny warbler for the bird is heard far more readily than it is seen. As a songster it is all but indefatigable. Perhaps this is because the depths of the cypress swamps and the old "backwaters" are cooler than the surrounding highlands, but no matter how warm the day, or close the atmosphere, the constantly reiterated, seven-note song resounds through the air most of the day. The ornithologists I have guided to the haunts of waynei all agree that the song is very close to that of virens. Perhaps it is a shade more deliberate and studied, as might be expected of a southerner! However, to all intents and purposes, it is the same song. I am inclined to describe it as slower and more pronounced, but after all the difference is minor.

Arthur H. Howell (1932) describes the song of virens as "a drowsy, drawled ditty of four or five notes, wee-wee-wee-su-see, the next to last note on a lower pitch and the final one distinctly higher." This portrays quite well the song of waynei, except for the number of notes, which are much oftener seven than less, the first five being exactly alike, the sixth descending, and the seventh ascending.

Frank M. Chapman (1907), quoting Gerald Thayer, says of virens that "most of the individuals in a region sing nearly alike ... but about one in forty does queer tricks with its voice. Among the commonest of these tricks is the introduction into all parts of the song of a pronounced quaver or tremulo.... The song is sometimes disguised almost past recognition." He states further that the "deliberate song of five (sometimes six or eight) notes, is the one usually described in books."

I have never noted any "quaver or tremulo" in the song. It may occur, but in the scores of times I have heard the song it has not taken place. Nor can I recall any song of eight notes. Occasionally, waynei will utter only five notes, but this is the marked exception and not the rule. Certainly, individuals in a given region sing exactly alike, and indeed, all the specimens I ever heard sounded alike, except for the occasional slight variation in number of notes.

Fall.--The length of stay of waynei in its summer range has not yet been determined with certainty. Few departure dates have been recorded, but in all probability the bird is a rather early migrant. Occurrence of the song decreases markedly after the nesting season, making the birds' movements much more difficult to trace. It will be recalled that young were noted flying on May twenty-fourth, in the Dismal Swamp of Virginia. South Carolina birds were seen to fly "a few feet" on April twenty-eighth, almost a month earlier. The North Carolina records show that young were noted "in June", probably early in the month. That multiple broods are raised is also something of an open question, though it seems that in South Carolina two are raised. Henry H. Kopman (1904) states that on July 30, 1897, he took one at Beauvoir, Miss., on the Gulf coast, and later comments (1905) that "Professor Cooke [W. W.] is inclined to think" that the Beauvoir bird was a stray. Probably it was a stray, and in view of what we know today, the chances are that the bird was a specimen of waynei. Many of the birds of course linger much later than that; on September 29, 1935, Earle R. Greene [MS.] noted one at Lake Mattamuskeet, N.C. This is doubtless a rather late date and may be taken as about the limit of its stay along the Atlantic coast.

Enough remains to be learned about this most interesting race to keep students busy. The highly attractive type of habitat, the marked isolation of nesting pairs even in a restricted range, the active character and handsome appearance of the bird itself, all these combine to render Wayne's warbler distinctive and appealing.

DENDROICA CHRYSOPARIA Sclater and Salvin

GOLDEN-CHEEKED WARBLER

HABITS

This elegant warbler is confined in the breeding season to a very narrow range in south-central Texas, the timbered parts of the "Edwards Plateau" region. It has been reported as breeding in Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Concho, Kendall, Kerr, and Tom Green Counties, and rarely north to Bosque and McLennan Counties. It winters in the highlands of southern Mexico and Guatemala.