In the latter State birds are usually mated by March 11. Nest building is begun by the middle of the month unless the season is delayed or adverse weather hinders operations, in which case nests are not found at times until early April. Georgia and Florida nestings correspond closely. In areas where Spanish moss is not found, dominica reverts to saddling its nest on the horizontal branches of trees. Pearson and the Brimleys (1942) state that in the Raleigh, N.C., area the nest is frequently constructed in pines “at a height of from 20 to 40 feet.” They also say that in the coastal region where the cypress occurs the bird “frequently nests in the long, gray moss hanging from the trees.” North Carolina nesting commences in late April.
The nest is constructed mostly by the female, sometimes completely so, but D. J. Nicholson (1929) has seen the male assisting in Florida. In the spring of 1942 a nest was built in a banner of moss no more than 20 feet from the porch of my home, at the extremity of a drooping live-oak limb. The female brought material as often as twice a minute, disappearing completely within the moss clump which could be seen bulging now and then with her movements. She was utterly unconcerned by observers on the porch, even the noise made by children not disturbing her in the least. The male sang constantly nearby.
Two broods are raised in coastal South Carolina. The young of the first are fully fledged by April 22, according to Wayne. The second nest is begun soon after the first brood is away. The yellow-throated warbler will, of course, lay again if accident befalls the nest and eggs. Little time is lost in the interim and illustrative of this tenacity of purpose are some interesting notes of C. S. Brimley (1943) dealing with experiments made by him and his brother, H. H. Brimley of Raleigh, N. C. On April 25, 1890 they collected a set of four eggs from the nest in a pine tree, 42 feet up. Four days later (April 29) another nest was being built in a smaller pine nearby, at an elevation of 47 feet. On May 12 a set of eggs was taken from it and three days later (May 15) the birds again began to build, this time in a very slender pine which had to be stayed with ropes when eggs were removed from the nest on May 26. Two days later the fourth nest was started in a large pine, 44 feet up. On June 7 additional eggs were secured. All sets consisted of four eggs. No further attempts were made on this persevering pair but “they may have built a fifth nest * * * for all we know to the contrary.”
Although it seems remarkable that Audubon apparently failed to remark particularly on the moss-nesting habits of this warbler, it will be recalled that his observations seem to have been made largely in Louisiana, for he stresses this State in his account of the species; but he could hardly have failed to observe it elsewhere in the South, particularly on his visits to Rev. John Bachman in Charleston. Of the nest Audubon (1841) says that it is “placed on a horizontal branch of a cypress, twenty, thirty, or even fifty feet above the ground, and is with difficulty discerned from below, as it resembles a knot or a tuft of moss.” Certainly, moss is abundant in Louisiana and it would seem that the birds there share this preference despite the fact that the form of this warbler found there is albilora.
Eggs.—[Author’s Note: Dr. Chapman (1907) says that the yellow-throated warbler lays 4 or 5 eggs, but very rarely 5, and adds:
“Ground color a dull greenish gray-white, in a large series the peculiar color of the markings seem to tinge the ground color; the markings are very mixed, numerous under shell marks, in the form of blotches and specks, of pale lavender and purplish gray overlaid with heavier surface markings of wine-red, umber and deeper shades of purplish gray and blackish. The heaviest markings are at the larger end, which is sometimes well wreathed, with many spots and specks over rest of egg.” The measurements of 50 eggs average 17.1 by 13.0 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 19.0 by 13.6, 17.6 by 14.0, 15.4 by 12.7, and 16.0 by 11.9 millimeters.]
Plumages.—[Author’s Note: Dr. Dwight (1900) describes the juvenal plumage, in which the sexes are apparently alike, as “above olive-brown with dull black streaking. Below, dull white, streaked with clove-brown chiefly anteriorly.” A postjuvenal molt, beginning early in June in Florida, and involving the contour plumage and the wing coverts but not the rest of the wings or the tail, produces the first winter plumages. These are much like those of the adults, but are generally more brownish, the female being browner than the male. The yellow throat is assumed at this molt.
The first nuptial plumage is acquired by wear, the brownish wash wearing away and the back becoming grayer and the black markings clearer. Young birds are now indistinguishable from adults, except by the browner and more worn wings.
Adults have one complete postnuptial molt in midsummer, after which the fully adult plumage is assumed, the colors of the female being similar to those of the male but duller.]