T H E P I N E C R E E P I N G W A R B L E R .
SYLVIA PINUS, LATH.
P L A T E C X L . MALK AND FEMALE.
T H E Pine Creeping Warbler, the most abundant of its tribe, is met
with from Louisiana to Maine, more profusely in the warmer, and more
sparingly in the colder regions, breeding wherever fir or pine trees are to
be found. Although it may occasionally be seen on other trees, yet it
always prefers those of that remarkable and interesting tribe. I found
it on the sandy barrens bordering St John's River, in East Florida,
in full song, early in February. I am pretty certain that they had already
formed nests at that early period, and it seems to me not unlikely
that this species, as well as some others that breed in that country at the
same time, may afterwards travel far to the eastward, and there rear another
brood the same year.
In some degree allied to the Certh'iae in its habits, it is often seen ascending
the trunks and larger branches of trees, hopping against the bark,
in search of the larvas that lurk there. At times it moves sidewise along
a branch three or four steps, and turning about, goes on in the same
manner, until it has reached a twig, which it immediately examines.
Its restless activity is quite surprising : now it gives chace to an insect
on wing; now, it is observed spying out those more diminutive
species concealed among the blossoms and leaves of the pines ; again, it
leaves the topmost branches of a tree, flies downwards, and alights sidewise
on the trunk of another, which it ascends, changing its position,
from right to left, at every remove. It also visits the ground in quest
of food, and occasionally betakes itself to the water, to drink or bathe.
It is seldom that an individual is seen by itself going through its
course of action, for a kind of sympathy seems to exist in a flock, and in
autumn and winter especially, thirty or more may be observed, if not on
the same tree, at least not far from each other. Although it feeds on insects,
larva?, and occasionally small crickets, it seems to give a decided
preference to a little red insect of the,coleopterous order, which is found
inclosed in the leaves or stipules of the pine. Low lands seem to suit it
best, for it is much less numerous in mountainous countries than in those
bordering the sea.
P I N E CREEPING WARBLER. 233
Like many other birds, the Pine Creeping Warbler constructs its
nest of different materials, nay even makes it of a different form, in the
Southern and Eastern States. In the Carolinas, for instance, it is usually
placed among the dangling fibres of the Spanish moss, with less workmanship
and less care, than in the Jerseys, the State of New York, or
that of Maine. In the latter, as well as in Massachusetts, where it breeds
about the middle of June, it places its nest at a great height, sometimes
fifty feet, attaching it to the twigs of a forked branch. Here the nest is
small, thin but compact, composed of the slender stems of dried grasses
mixed with coarse fibrous roots and the exuvia? of caterpillars or other insects,
and lined with the hair of the deer, moose, racoon, or other animals,
delicate fibrous roots, wool, and feathers. The eggs, which are from four
to six, have a very light sea-green tint, all over sprinkled with small pale
reddish-brown dots, of which there is a thicker circle near the larger end.
In these districts, it seldom breeds more than once in the season, whereas
in the Carolinas, Georgia, and the Floridas, where it is a constant resident,
it usually has two, sometimes three, broods in the year, and its eggs
are deposited on the first days of April, fully a month earlier than in the
State above mentioned.
Its flight is short, and exhibits undulating curves of considerable elegance.
It migrates entirely by day, flying from tree to tree, and seldom
making a longer flight than is necessary for crossing a river. The song
is monotonous, consisting at times merely of a continued tremulous
sound, which may be represented by the letters Trr—rr—rr-rr. During
the love season, this is changed into a more distinct sound, resembling
tzve, tzcS, te, U, te, tee. It sings at all hours of the day, even in the heat
of summer noon, when the woodland songsters are usually silent.
It is a hardy bird, seldom abandoning the most northern of the
Eastern States until the middle of October. I saw none beyond the Province
of New Brunswick, and Professor MACCULLOCH of Pictou had not
observed it in Nova Scotia. In Newfoundland and Labrador I did not
see a single individual.
I have placed a pair of these birds on a branch of their favourite
pine ; but the colouring of the male is not so brilliant as it is in spring
and summer, the individual represented having been drawn in Louisiana
in the winter, where, as well as in the Carolinas, the Floridas, and all the
Southern Districts, it is a constant resident.