Mvrtle Warbler. This species seems to have the most varied feeding habits of any species.Although it moves slightly more in a tangential direction than any except black-throated green, it is probably more correct to think of the myrtle as having the most nearly equal components (radial, tangential, and vertical) of any species. This is shown by its most nearly central location in Figure 7. It is also seen to have the most
widely distributed feeding zone, although the ground feeding was nearly, but not completely, restricted to the gathering of emerging Tipulids for newly hatched young. Sometimes a substantial amount of this is hawking for flying insects; at
other times it is largely by rapid peering (GrinneII 1921) amid the thick foliage near the tree tops.Myrtle, along with Cape May, makes a much higher proportion of flights to other trees than do the other species, often flying from one side of its territory to the other with no apparent provocation. The other three species tend to search one tree
rather thoroughly before moving on. Further evidence of the plasticity of the myrtle warbler's feeding habits will be presented when the other seasons are considered. Grinnell and Storer (1924) stated that the Audubon's warbler (which often hybridizes with the myrtle and with it froms a super species (Mayr 1950» also feeds in peripheral
foliage and does a greater amount of hawking than other species. Kendeigh (1947) said that birds fed from ground to tops of trees, and also that two males covered two and four acres re spectively in only a few minutes. Knight (1908) said "Many of the adult insects are taken on the wing, the warblers taking short springs and flights
into the air for this purpose. The young for the tirst few days are fed on the softer sorts of insects secured by the parents, and later their fare is like
that of the parents in every way.