Home › Volumes › Bird Homes › Open Nests in Trees, Bushes, and Vines
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Adult--Upper parts greenish, streaked with black; crown yellow; a black line from base of bill on sides of throat to upper part of breast, where it joins the chestnut patch on either side of the breast and belly; rest of under parts whitish. Length--5.14.
Breeding Range--In the Alleghanies, northward from South Carolina, and from northern New Jersey and Illinois northward.
The nest is placed in low bushes at a height from eighteen inches up to seven or eight feet. It is a fairly compact nest, about an inch and a half deep inside, composed of grass, thin strips of bark, a small amount of plant fibre, and lined with fine grass, hair, and hair-like roots. Seldom more than 4 eggs are laid; they are white, with light reddish-brown and pale lavender spots, most of which form an irregular wreath round the larger end. Size--.68 x .50. See Fig. 15, Plate D.
The Chestnut-sided Warbler arrives at the southern portion of his lowland range (New Jersey) about the first week in May, and he and his mate, who lacks but little of the brilliancy of his colouring, choose some suitable place, such as the scrubby second growth of a clearing, or near a brook where the underbrush is thick, and there they remain until time for nest-building, which begins about the last week in May. During this period and for about a month or so after, the sweet note of the male bird may be heard at almost any time of day. While his mate is performing the tedious duty of incubating, he remains near by and sings at frequent intervals. The accompanying photograph was taken in South Orange, New Jersey, the nest being placed within eighteen inches of the ground, in an azalea plant.