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Nature Neighbors
JOHN JAMES AUDUBON EDITION
Limited to Two Thousand and Fifty Sets
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2010 with funding from
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
http://www.archive.org/details/natureneighborse51914bant
NATURE NEIGHBORS
Embracing
BIRDS, PLANTS, ANIMALS,
MINERALS
In Natural Colors by Color Photography
Containing Articles by Gerard Alan Abbott, Dr. Albert Schneider, William
Kerr Higley, Thomas Crowder Chamberlin, John Merle Coulter,
David Starr Jordan, and Other Eminent Naturalists.
Edited by Nathaniel Moore Banta
Six Hundred Forty-eight Full-page Color Plates
Containing Accurate Photographic Illustrations in Natural Colors
of Over Fifieen Hundred Nature Specimens
VOL. V—BIRDS
AMERICAN AUDUBON ASSOCIATION
CHICAGO
Coppa amie WA
By Nathaniel Moore Bante
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The publishers desire to extend their acknowledgment and thanks
to the firms who have kindly permitted the use of material in this
work: To the publisher, A. W. Mumford, for the articles from “ Birds
and Nature”; all unsigned articles from this source are marked with
an asterisk ; to the publisher, John C. Mountjoy, for the articles from
the writings of Gerard Alan Abbott and Harold B. Shinn. All articles
in the Bird Volumes, not otherwise accounted for, are written by
Gerard Alan Abbott.
CHAPTER XVII
INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS
TaNnaGers are American birds found principally in the
tropics. Of the three hundred and fifty species, only five
reach the United States. They spend most of their time
in wooded lowlands, where they feed upon insects and
fruits. The males are remarkable for the brilliancy of their
plumage. Few are beautiful songsters; among them, how-
ever, is our scarlet tanager.
Swallows are decidedly insectivorous. They feed while
upon the wing, and travel great distances, apparently unfa-
tigued, as their flight is the most remarkable of that of any
family. The feet are weak, being little used. They nest in
pairs and in colonies, and migrate in large flocks by day.
Waxwings are highly gregarious except while breeding.
These handsome but songless birds feed upon insects, ber-
ries, and fruit. They receive their name from the waxlike
tips on secondaries and sometimes on tail.
Shrikes, though representing about two hundred species,
are mostly Old World forms, only two varieties being found
in America. ‘They prey upon insects, birds, and small
mammals, which they impale upon thorns or fence barbs
until such time as they choose to satisfy their appetites.
Vireos are peculiar to America. Of the fifty species,
fifteen reach the United States. These insectivorous birds
are arboreal and slow of movement, gleaning food from leaf
357
358 BIRDS °
and bark surface mainly. Their plumage has a greenish or
grayish cast, harmonizing well with the foliage in which
they feed. They are good songsters, and construct beau-
tiful nests.
THE LOUISIANA TANAGER*
The tanagers make their home in the trees, and, being
of a retiring disposition, are more numerous within the
bounds of the forest. During the breeding season they
retire still further into the interior. No wonder that they
are more numerous in tropical regions, where the luxuriant
foliage of the forests furnishes them with a safe retreat, and
where there is an abundance of food suited to their taste.
This tendency to avoid the society of man has made the
study of their habits much more difficult, and but little has
been recorded except that which pertains to the more North-
ern forms.
The food is chiefly insects, especially in the larval form,
and berries. To some extent they also feed upon the buds
of flowers. Mr. Chapman tells us that “the tropical spe-
cies are of a roving disposition, and wander through the
forests in search of certain trees bearing ripe fruit, near
which they may always be found in numbers.” ‘Their nests
are shallow, and the eggs, usually three to five in number,
are greenish-blue in color, speckled with brown and purple.
The Louisiana Tanager is a Western species, ranging
from British Columbia on the north to Guatemala on the
south, and from the Missouri River to the Pacific Coast.
Our illustration well represents the male. The female, like
its sister tanagers, is plainly colored, but still beautiful. It
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364
LOUISIANA TANAGER.
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INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS 359
is olive green, with the underside yellowish. The feathers
of the wings and tail are brown, edged with olive. It resem-
bles the female scarlet tanager. The young are at first like
the female. Then appears the black of the back, mixed
with some olive and a slight tinge of red on the head.
It would seem that its name is a misnomer, as it is not
found in the State of Louisiana.
SCARLET TANAGER
Most tanagers are tropical, inhabiting the densely foli-
aged trees about the equator. The Scarlet Tanager sum-
mers in the United States and southern Canada, wintering
in Central and South America. The male bird, with fire-
red body and jet-black wings and tail, is our most brightly
plumaged bird, while the female has a sober plumage of
dull olive green. The scarlet tanager is a comparatively
common bird from Iowa and Minnesota eastward to New
York and the Canadian provinces. Decidedly a warm-
weather bird, it does not arrive in the Great Lakes region
until about May Ist. These birds are highly beneficial, as
they destroy countless numbers of worms, moths, caterpil-
lars, and beetles, while partaking of some small fruits and
berries.
The song of the male is clear and pleasing, uttered
rather distinctly as a rhythmical carol suggesting that of the
robins. ‘'Timbered hillsides, orchards, and shade trees are
favorite nesting sites. The nest, composed of coarse stems
and grass, lined with finer material of the same, is attached
to a cluster of small twigs on a limb of a deciduous tree,
360 BIRDS °
usually within twenty feet of the ground. The three or
four eggs are bluish-green, spotted distinctly with brown.
THE SUMMER TANAGER *
This specimen is also called the Summer Redbird or
Rose Tanager, and is found pretty generally distributed
over the United States during the summer months, winter-
ing in Cuba, Central America, and northern South Amer-
ica. As will be seen, the adult male is a plain vermilion red.
The plumage of the female is less attractive. In habits
this species resembles the scarlet tanager, perhaps the most
brilliant of the group, but is not so retiring, frequenting
open groves and often visiting towns and cities.
The nesting season of this charming bird extends to the
latter part of July, but varies with the latitude and season.
Bark strips and leaves interwoven with various vegetable
substances compose the nest, which is usually built on a
horizontal or drooping branch, near its extremity, and situ-
ated at the edge of a grove near the roadside. ‘The eggs are
beautiful, being a bright, light emerald green, spotted,
dotted, and blotched with various shades of lilac, paints:
purple, and dark brown.
Chapman says the Summer Tanager may be easily iden-
tified, not alone by its color, but by its unique call-note—
a clearly enunciated “chicky-tucky-tuck.” Its song bears a
general resemblance to that of the scarlet, but to some ears
is much sweeter, better sustained, and more musical. It
equals in strength, according to one authority, that of the
robin, but is uttered more hurriedly, and is more “wiry.”
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INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS 361
The summer tanager is to a greater or less extent known
to farmers as the red bee-bird. Its food consists largely of
hornets, wasps, and bees.
PURPLE MARTIN
The Purple Martin, with his near relative and sub-
species, called the Western martin, occupies about the entire
portion of temperate North America, breeding as far north
as Newfoundland and Saskatchewan.
The plumage of the male is deep purple; as the irides-
cent feathers glisten in the sun with a beautiful metallic
effect suggestive of the head and throat of the bronzed
grackle.
Martins are strong fliers, and successfully ward off the
attacks of the English sparrows and the kingbird. Sociable
birds, frequently nesting in colonies, they readily adapt
themselves to “apartment” life by accepting as nesting sites
bird cotes which are erected for their accommodation. Such
houses should be furnished more often. Children may be
encouraged to make and put up these houses. The birds
also nest in the structural work of bridges and in the crev-
ices and under the roofs of buildings. They even place the
nests on the crossboards above the hanging arc lights which
are lowered daily by the electricians. Martins are decreas-
ing in numbers in the North, and efforts should be made to
keep this valuable bird with us by furnishing them nesting
sites.
The food is entirely insectivorous, and these highly use-
ful birds are most active shortly before sunrise and near
362 BIRDS .
sunset. One observer noted that the parent birds visited
the young more than two hundred times a day, carrying
insect food to them. Martins twitter and chatter in an
agreeable way, and the song of the male as he seems to wax
his bills together is not grating in quality, as we might sup-
pose, but exceedingly pleasing. I have often wondered why
so little is said by naturalists about the song of the purple
martin.
The nests are composed chiefly of grass and feathers,
and contain four or five pure white eggs, laid in June. The
birds are with us from the latter part of April until August.
BARN SWALLOW
The Barn Swallow is probably the most generally dis-
tributed of our swallows, as several pairs may usually be
found about the average rural home, nesting in barns and
outbuildings. They formerly used rock caves and cliffs.
Though sociable in habits, they do not colonize like the cliff
swallow. These birds range north to Greenland and Hud-
son Bay, breeding throughout most of the range, and win-
tering in Central and South America.
The bird is of great economic value, as the food is
entirely insectivorous, being captured while the birds are
on the wing. Too many ignorant farmers knock down the
nests and drive away these true friends. The deep forked
tail serves as the best means of distinguishing this swallow
from martins, swifts, and other rapid fliers. The song of
the male is a mild little twitter, uttered from the rafters or
while he is swiftly pursuing insects over the meadows.
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TREE SWALLOW.
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Life-size
SOFYRIGHT 1903, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO
INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS 363
Swallows are often called the first masons. The nests
are placed about buildings, preferably inside on a rafter or
beam. Mud of a clay-like composition mixed with blades
of grass and hay form the exterior of the nest, in which,
when available, feathers are used as a lining. The birds
frequently allow one section of the nest several days to set
before adding fresh material.
Four to six pearly-white eggs, sprinkled with dots of
brown or lilac, are laid late in May or early in June. The
egos hatch in ten days, and the young leave the nest when
they are about sixteen days old.
TREE SWALLOW
Tree Swallows occur throughout eastern North Amer-
ica, principally in the Middle and Northern States, ranging
north to Labrador and Alaska, breeding locally throughout
the range, and wintering from South Carolina southward.
This bird is frequently called the white-bellied swallow,
as the under parts are pure white, a field mark which read-
ily distinguishes it from our other swallows. ‘The upper
parts are steel blue in color, the feathers having a glossy
metallic luster.
The feet of the tree swallows show little development.
The birds are seen perching on the naked branches of trees
more frequently than are our other swallows. The note is
a little twitter, indicative of little demonstration, and the
only vivacious movements are those made in flight, as the
birds possess perfect control when in the air, and are most
at home on the wing.
364 BIRDS
The tree swallows do not nest in colonies, like the cliff
or bank swallows, but flock early in August, when immense
numbers congregate on the marshes and, in company with
the bank swallows, move leisurely southward as one great
army of insect catchers.
The nests are commonly placed in hollow trees and
stumps; usually some old, abandoned excavation of a wood-
pecker is used, though some accept houses made for them
by man. Nesting sites near the water are preferred. Often
a decayed stump standing in the midst of a vast marsh is
selected, and the cavity is warmly lined with grass and
feathers. Four to seven white eggs are laid.
THE VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW *
The Violet-green Swallow is one of the most beautiful of
the Hirundinide, or family of swallows. There are about
eighty species of the family, and they are world-wide in
their distribution. These tireless birds seem to pass almost
the entire day on the wing in pursuit of insects, upon which
they feed almost exclusively. They can outfly the birds of
prey, and the fact that they obtain their food while flying
enables them to pursue their migrations by day and to rest
at night.
The violet-green swallow frequents the Pacific Coast
from British Columbia on the north, southward in the win-
ter to Guatemala and Costa Rica. Its range extends east-
ward to the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains.
Its nest, which is made of dry grass and copiously lined
with a mass of feathers, is variously placed. Sometimes the
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VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW.
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INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS 365
knot-holes of oaks and other deciduous trees are selected.
They have also been known to use the deserted homes of
the cliff swallow. Mr. Allen states that they “ nest in aban-
doned woodpeckers’ holes, but at the Garden of the Gods
and on the divide between Denver and Colorado City, we
found them building in holes in the rocks.” This swallow
is quite common in western Colorado, where they have been
observed on the mountain sides at an altitude of eight to over
ten thousand feet. In “ The Birds of Colorado,” Mr. W. W.
Cooke says: “A few breed on the plains, but more com-
monly from six to ten thousand five hundred feet” above
the level of the sea. He also adds that they begin laying
late in June or early in July, and desert the higher regions
in August and the lower early in September.
The notes of this exquisite bird are described by an
observer who says that they “consist of a rather faint war-
bling twitter, uttered as they sit on some low twig, their
favorite perch; when flying about, they seem to be rather
silent.”
The violet-green swallows, like their sister species, usually
nest and migrate in colonies.
BOHEMIAN WAXWING
Mr. Dawson writes: “Perhaps we shall never know
just why some of these gentle hyperboreans spend their win-
ters now in New England, now in Wisconsin, now in Wash-
ington, or throughout the northern tier of States at once.
Their southward movement is doubtless induced by hunger,
and the particular direction may be determined in part at
366 BIRDS
least by the prevailing winds. They are likely to appear in
the limits of their range any winter. Usually they appear
in flocks of several hundred individuals.
“The Northern waxwing is a bird of unrivaled beauty,
even surpassing that of the cedar waxwing, which it closely
resembles in appearance and habits. When with us it
feeds by preference upon the berries of the mountain ash
and the red cedar, and more rarely upon persimmons. Its
life history is as yet imperfectly known, although it has
been found breeding near the Yukon and Anderson Rivers.”
CEDAR WAXWING
The Cedar Waxwing is so called because of red tips,
like drops of sealing wax, on secondaries and sometimes on
tail.
The entire continent of North America is inhabited by
either the cedar or Bohemian waxwings, but the eastern and
central portions from Labrador south to Central America
are the principal roving grounds of the “cedar bird.” Here
they may be met with throughout the year, provided their
food supply of berries, seeds, and buds is sufficient to
sustain the flock until spring when the hordes of insects
appear.
The cedar and Bohemian waxwings are the only repre-
sentatives of this interesting sub-family, Ampeline. ‘The
former species is distinctly an American bird, but the range
of the Bohemian waxwing includes the northern portions of
America, Europe, and Asia.
The various hues in a cedar waxwing’s plumage, like ©
CEDAR WAXWING.
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INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS 367
the velvety effect in shades and colors of the harlequin duck
and Wilson’s phalarope, are soft delicate tones. To appre-
ciate this exquisite combination it is essential that the birds
themselves be seen.
A sociable bird with an eccentric disposition, the cedar
bird, or cherry bird, wanders about the country in flocks of
from five to fifty. The raids made by a company of these
birds when they descend upon orchard and shade trees which
are infested by the canker-worm or elm leaf beetle has
proven a blessing to many a horticulturist whose trees they
often save. When the early Richmond cherries ripen, the
“cherry birds” gather about the trees in numbers. Over-
looking both the past and future, the farmer often shoots
these valuable birds. When the cherry season is over, the
birds gradually pair off and withdraw from the flock, pre-
paratory to nesting in some coniferous shade tree, bush, or
orchard tree.
In southern Michigan I observed the birds breeding not
earlier than July 20,and many nests are not occupied before
August 5. Nest-building is commenced earlier in the South-
ern States, and young cedar waxwings may be seen in June.
On August 4, 1896, I found a nest of grass, stems, and
wool, situated fifteen feet up in the crotch of an apple tree.
The crest of a cherry bird was visible above the rim of the nest.
Ascending to the nest, I found five bluish slate-colored eggs
speckled with black and with under shell markings of pale
blue, which gave a cloudy or smoky appearance to the eggs.
Another nest, holding four incubated eggs, was discovered
on August 16, near the former nest. The peculiar colors
of the eggs render them inconspicuous.
368 BIRDS
THE GREAT NORTHERN SHRIKE*
The Great Northern Shrike, more commonly, perhaps,
called Butcher Bird, comes from northern British-American
territory to the latitude of Chicago in the fall, and stays
through the winter, when it leaves for the vicinity of Fort
Anderson, in the crown territories, to build its nest. This
is placed in a low tree or bush, and is composed of twigs
and grasses. ‘The eggs number four or five. During the
winter the shrike’s food consists almost entirely of small
birds, with an occasional mouse to add variety. In the
summer its diet is made up chiefly of the larger insects,
though at times a small snake is caught and eaten with
apparent relish.
The great Northern shrike has the habit of impaling the
bodies of its victims upon thorns or of hanging them by the
neck in the crotch of two small limbs. Its perch is the very
tiptop of a tree, from which it can survey the surrounding
country and mark out its victims with its keen eye.
It is larger and darker than its brother, the loggerhead.
It is also a much better singer, its notes being varied and
almost entirely musical, though occasionally it perpetrates
a sort of harsh half croak that ruins the performance.
The close daily observance of the bird involves some
little sacrifice for the person whose nature is tempered with
mercy. The shrike is essentially cruel. It is a butcher pure
and simple, and a butcher that knows no merciful methods
in plying its trade. More than this, the shrike is the most
arrant hypocrite in the whole bird calendar. Its notes are
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INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS 369
alluringly gentle, and, to paraphrase a somewhat famous
quotation, “It sings and sings, and is a villain still.”
LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE
The Loggerhead Shrike, Butcher Bird, or Mouse Hawk,
appears from Florida northward to New York and west-
ward to Indiana; from the latter State westward to the
Plains and north into Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota,
we have a closely allied species described as the migrant
shrike; another sub-species, a still lighter form, ranging
west to the Pacific Coast, is called the California shrike.
Shrikes are solitary and are seldom abundant, but are
easily observed because of their habit of frequenting con-
spicuous places. They resort about thorny hedges along
highways, so that occasionally several pairs may be observed
within a distance of half a mile along a country road, and
then one may not encounter another for several miles. Their
peculiar flight should enable the observer to recognize the
birds, as the white patches on the wings and tail are conspic-
uous field marks.
Commonly known as the butcher bird, these savage, car-
nivorous birds eagerly devour the brains of their victims.
On thorns and barbed-wire fences are impaled the bodies of
sparrows and mice, and often grasshoppers and snakes meet
a similar fate. Shrikes possess a hooked beak, suggestive of
the hawk, but they have weak feet, as do other perchers.
This largely accounts for the peculiar habit of impaling the
prey to be held while eaten. They perch in a manner simi-
lar to the flycatchers, and instead of pursuing their prey,
370 BIRDS ,
they remain patiently in a conspicuous place awaiting the
approach of some tempting morsel, when they suddenly
descend upon the unsuspecting victim. The shrike has a
habit of accumulating a store of birds or insects on barbs or
thorns, even after his hunger is satisfied. It is supposed
they return if hungry, though they seem usually to have
fresh meat for their meals.
The loggerhead or migrant shrike is with us in the Great
Lakes region from early March to October. These birds
seem to prefer comparatively open, level areas, and fre-
quently are seen perching upon fences and telephone wires.
In many cut-over regions, especially if placed under culti-
vation, these birds are breeding in greatly increased num-
bers. These prolific birds lay five or six eggs, occasionally
rearing two broods in a season. ‘They invariably attempt
to rear a brood if the first or even the second setting is
destroyed.
The shrikes nest early, frequently sitting upon their
egos during the cold days of April, when the wind sweeps
with full force across the prairies. They prefer sites in
hedges or thorn bushes. The nests are warmly built of
vegetable fibers, stems, and hay, warmly lined with Indian
hemp and feathers.
RED-EYED VIREO
The Red-eyed Vireo, probably the commonest of the
vireos, inhabits North America as far west as the Rockies,
ranging from the Gulf to Hudson Bay. All members of |
the vireo family are natives of America, though most are
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RED-EYED VIREO COPYRIGHT 1900, BY A. W MUMFORD CHICAGO
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NEST OF THE RED-EYED VIREO.
(Vireo olivaceus).
About Life-size,
COPYRIGHT 1904, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO
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INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS 871
inhabitants of tropical and sub-tropical regions. The pre-
vailing colors of these birds are various shades of light
green and gray, which harmonize admirably with their
surroundings.
How many people have I encountered who ask me to
name “the bird that sings all day long in the shade trees
about our lawn.” Catch a glimpse of the red-eyed songster
and you will be surprised to learn that the glad volume of
song which is entertaining you throughout the day and eve-
ning during the torrid heat of July and August issues from
the throat of so small a bird. Seek an introduction to this
vireo, and you will find him equally curious to see you. As
to forming an acquaintance with him, that is another matter,
as he commences to sing in a manner which would indicate
from the rising inflection of his voice that a closer acquaint-
ance is not desired.
These birds are decidedly insectivorous, and devour great
quantities of injurious worms and insects and their larve.
The nests of the different species do not differ greatly
from each other in construction or situation. In country
places where huge shade trees overhang the village streets
the vireos revel among the foliage, constructing their pen-
sile nests among the drooping branches of some elm, syca-
more, or maple.
A nest of three eggs in my collection, taken May 15,
1896, is composed of bark, fibers, string, and down, lined
with long, coarse hairs. The nest was suspended at the end
of a maple limb, ten feet from the trunk of a tree, twenty-
five feet from the ground. Other names of this bird are
Red-eyed Greenlet, Red-eyed Flycatcher, and the Preacher.
INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS 871
inhabitants of tropical and sub-tropical regions. The pre-
vailing colors of these birds are various shades of light
green and gray, which harmonize admirably with their
surroundings.
How many people have I encountered who ask me to
name “the bird that sings all day long in the shade trees
about our lawn.” Catch a glimpse of the red-eyed songster
and you will be surprised to learn that the glad volume of
song which is entertaining you throughout the day and eve-
ning during the torrid heat of July and August issues from
the throat of so small a bird. Seek an introduction to this
vireo, and you will find him equally curious to see you. As
to forming an acquaintance with him, that is another matter,
as he commences to sing in a manner which would indicate
from the rising inflection of his voice that a closer acquaint-
ance is not desired.
These birds are decidedly insectivorous, and devour great
quantities of injurious worms and insects and their larve.
The nests of the different species do not differ greatly
from each other in construction or situation. In country
places where huge shade trees overhang the village streets
the vireos revel among the foliage, constructing their pen-
sile nests among the drooping branches of some elm, syca-
more, or maple.
A nest of three eggs in my collection, taken May 15,
1896, is composed of bark, fibers, string, and down, lined
with long, coarse hairs. The nest was suspended at the end
of a maple limb, ten feet from the trunk of a tree, twenty-
five feet from the ground. Other names of this bird are
Red-eyed Greenlet, Red-eyed Flycatcher, and the Preacher.
3TR BIRDS .
THE WARBLING VIREO *
The vireos are a family of singers and are more often
heard than seen, but the Warbler has a much more musical
voice and of greater compass than any other member of the
family. The song ripples like a brook, floating down from
the leafiest tree-tops. It is not much to look at, being quite
plainly dressed in contrast with the red-eyed cousin, the
largest of the vireos. In nesting time it prefers seclusion,
though in the spring and mid-summer, when the little ones
have flown, and nesting cares have ceased, it frequents the
garden, singing in the elms and birches, and other tall trees.
It rambles as well through the foliage of trees in open
woodland, in parks, and in those along the banks of streams,
where it diligently searches the under side of leaves and
branches for insect life, “in that near-sighted way peculiar
to the tribe.” It is a very stoic among birds, and seems
never surprised at anything, “even at the loud report of a
gun, with the shot rattling about it in the branches, and, if
uninjured, it will stand for a moment unconcerned, or move
along, peering on every side amongst the foliage, warbling
its tender, liquid strains.”
The nest of this species is a strong, durable, basket-like
fabric, made of bark strips, lined with fine grasses. It is
suspended by the brim in slender, horizontal forks of
branches, at a great height from the ground.
“The eggs are white with a few brown specks on the
large end. These birds breed throughout the United |
States and southern Canada.”
96 WARBLING VIREO. COPYRIGHT 1900. BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO
Life-size
YELLOW-THROATED VIREO COPYRIGHT 1900, BY A. /. MUMFORD, CHICAGO
5] (Vireo flavifrons)
+ Life-size
INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS 378
THE YELLOW-THROATED VIREO *
The popular name of this species of an attractive family
is Yellow-throated Greenlet, and our young readers will
find much pleasure in watching its pretty movements and
listening to its really delightful song whenever they visit the
places where it loves to spend the happy hours of summer.
In some respects it is the most remarkable of all the species
of the family found in the United States. “The Birds of
Illinois,” a book that may be profitably studied by the
young naturalist, states that it is decidedly the finest singer,
has the loudest notes of admonition and reproof, and is the
handsomest in plumage, and hence the more attractive to
the student.
A recognized observer says he has found it only in the
woods, and mostly in the luxuriant forests of the bottom
lands. The writer’s experience accords with that of Audu-
bon and Wilson, the best authorities in their day, but the
habits of birds vary greatly with locality, and in other parts
of the country, notably in New England, it is very familiar,
delighting in the companionship of man. It breeds in
eastern North America, and winters in Florida, Cuba, and
Central America.
The vireo makes a very deep nest, suspended by its
upper edge, between the forks of a horizontal branch. The
eggs are white, generally with a few reddish-brown blotches.
All authorities agree as to the great beauty of the nest, though
they differ as to its exact location. It is a woodland bird,
loving tall trees and running water, “haunting the same
374 BIRDS °
places as the solitary vireo.” During migration the yellow-
throat is seen in orchards and in the trees along sidewalks
and lawns, mingling his golden colors with the rich green
of June leaves.
BLUE-HEADED VIREO
The Blue-headed, or Solitary, Vireo ranges from the
Atlantic west to the Great Plains, practically from the
southern tier of States northward, wintering from Florida
to Brazil. Dr. Elliot Coues describes its song as “pitched
in a higher key than the other vireos.” It is by no means
the recluse that its name would imply. Mr. Bradford Tor-
rey writes: “A bird of winning tameness. Wood bird as
it is, it will sometimes permit the greatest familiarities. I
have seen two birds which allowed themselves to be stroked
in the freest manner while sitting on the eggs, and which ate
from my hand as readily as any pet canary.”
The blue-headed is one of the first vireos to arrive in the
spring and last to depart in the fall. It sings at its work,
and many consider it the finest singer of the family.
The pensile nest of pine needles, plant down, etc., sus-
pended from a forked branch five to ten feet up, usually
contains three or four eggs.
WHITE-EYED VIREO
The White-eyed Vireo ranges throughout eastern United
States from Florida to the northern tier of States, wintering
from Florida south.
“ Vireos are valuable gleaners, and may be distinguished
i ie
BLUE-HEADED VIREO
(Vireo solitarius)
3 Life-size
COPYRIGHT 190
BY A. W. MUMFORD, CH.CARO
WHITE-EYED VIREO.
(Vireo noveboracensis.)
About Life-size.
COPYRIGHT 1901, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO
:
INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS 375
from other tree-inhabiting, greenish birds of similar size by
their habit of carefully exploring the under surfaces of
leaves and the bark, including the various crevices. These
highly musical little birds have songs and call notes which
may be quickly recognized, once they are known.
“Unlike our other vireos, the white-eyed lives in the
lower growth. He is, therefore, nearer our level, and seems
to trust us more than do the others that call from the tree-
tops. He has a variety of musical calls, and sometimes may
be heard softly singing a song composed largely of imita-
tions of the notes of other birds.
“The white-eyed may readily be known from the red-
eyed and warbling vireos by the white bars across the tips
of its wing coverts. In this respect it greatly resembles
the yellow-throated, but it is to be distinguished by its
smaller size, white iris, and white breast, only the sides of
the breast being tinged with yellow.” (Chapman.)
In construction the nest is very similar to that of our
other vireos, but Wilson, the ornithologist, named this bird
“ Politician,” because it frequently uses bits of newspaper in
the construction of its nest.
CHAPTER XVIII
WARBLERS
WarBLERS are found in America only, and with a few
exceptions are arboreal, hence the term “wood warblers.”
They are almost exclusively insectivorous, hence highly
migratory and useful. More than all other birds, are they
the victims of lighthouses and electric lights in cities, as they
migrate by night. They are more or less gregarious and
sociable when migrating, several species freely mingling in
flocks. The last to arrive in the spring, they are the first to
leave in the fall. They may be plentiful one day, and have
entirely disappeared the next. ‘They are mostly bright-
plumed, but only a few are skilled as vocalists. The ama-
teur nature student is apt to confuse finches and warblers.
The tide of warblers passes through the United States when
the fruit trees are in bloom, and the birds are of great bene-
fit in destroying insects which are then awaiting the oppor-
tunity to attack the young fruit.
In procuring food, some take insects from exposed parts
of twigs and leaves, some carefully search the under parts of
leaves and the cracks and crevices of trunk, etc., while
others catch a large part of their food on the wing. Bird
lovers take delight in studying them through opera glasses,
constantly finding new species at times of migrations.
“What limitless possibilities in a flock of warblers!
Who can say what rare species may be among them?”
377
378 BIRDS "
BLACK AND WHITE WARBLER
The range of this warbler is eastern North America,
breeding north to Fort Simpson, and wintering in Florida
and South.
“Although placed at the head of the family of wood
warblers, this modest bird comes more naturally into com-
parison with creepers and nuthatches. He clings and creeps,
or rather hops, along the bark of the trunk and the larger
branches. He lacks much, it is true, of being the method-
ical plodder that the brown creeper is; he covers a great
deal more surface in a given time, and is content with a
rather superficial examination of any given territory. Then
again he secures variety, not merely by tracing out the
smaller limbs, but by moving in any direction—up or down
or sidewise—or even by darting into the air now and then
to capture an insect. Not infrequently he may be seen
gleaning from the bark of bushes and saplings near the
ground, or again in the tops of the very tallest elms. Apple
trees are cherished hunting grounds, and it is here that one
may cultivate a really intimate acquaintance.
“The Black and White is among the earlier migrant
warblers, coming as it does during the last week in April
and before the leaves are well out. At this time it is quite
a conspicuous bird, in spite of the fact that its striped coat
roughly approximates to the lights and shadows in the bark
of a tree; but it is usually silent. When it does speak, a
few days later, its voice is a wiry, squeaking song, likely to
be lost to ear altogether amid the full chorus of warbler
Baie ie ace
BLACK ANi) WHITE CREEPING WARBLER. COPYRIGHT 1900, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO
(Mniotilta varia).
About Life-size.
Pelee 2:
WARBLERS 379
week; but when the rush is over the singer will be heard.
At best the song is a tiny sibilation of no great carrying
power: ‘Squeech, weech, weech, weech, weech,’ lisped out
in two keys, is one rendering.” (Dawson.)
PROTHONOTARY WARBLER
The range of this exquisite warbler is eastern United
States, breeding from the Gulf to central Illinois and Vir-
ginia, less common east, and wintering in the tropics.
At first glance we look upon these birds as natives of the
tropics, because of the brightness of plumage of the males.
They confine themselves to river bottoms and usually take
possession of hollow stumps where the tree swallows and
chickadees are their neighbors. They have not the northerly
range the other warblers possess, but wander occasionally to
the Great Lakes region. The birds are more common in
Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana, breeding in the swamps, espe-
cially along the Illinois and Kankakee rivers.
Their alarm note is a distinct “peep,” reminding one of
the solitary sandpiper or water thrush. When the birds
arrive from the South, late in April, they frequent the tree-
tops, but gradually descend to the willows, and early in
May they have taken possession of some hollow, usually not
to exceed five feet above the ground or water.
The birds are decidedly insectivorous, and the regions
inhabited by them furnish an unlimited supply of small
winged insects, mostly injurious; hence the bird is highly
useful.
Four to six white eggs are laid in a nest composed of
380 BIRDS :
moss, a few leaves, and stems. The markings are of lilac,
and various shades of red clustered at the larger end.
SWAINSON’S WARBLER *
Swainson’s Warbler has a peculiar and interesting his-
tory. This species has the honor of being discovered, and
then practically lost to sight for about forty years.
In 1832, the Reverend John Bachman discovered this
warbler, near Charleston, South Carolina. The specimens
were placed in the hands of Audubon, who recognized that
a new species had been found, and gave it the Latin name
that it now bears. In his “ Birds of America,” Audubon
quotes the following record of Mr. Bachman: “I was first
attracted by the novelty of its notes, four or five in number,
repeated at intervals of five or six minutes apart. These
notes were loud, clear, and more like a whistle than a song.
They resembled the sounds of some extraordinary ventrilo-
quist in such a degree that I supposed the bird much farther
from me than it really was; for after some trouble caused
by these fictitious notes, I perceived it near to me, ard soon
shot it.
“The form of its bill I observed at once to differ from
all other known birds of our country, and was pleased at its
discovery.”
Even at the present time, Swainson’s warbler may be
considered common in only certain localities within its range,
which may be given as including the southern United States
northward to North Carolina and Missouri and east of
Texas. It winters in the tropics.
SW AINSON'S WARBLER. COPYRIGHT 1904, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO
(Helinaia swainsonii).
643 About Life-size.
151
WORM-EATING WARBLER.
(Helmitherus vermivorus.)
About Life-size.
COPYRIGHT 1801, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHIC
WARBLERS 381
The habits of this warbler make it a difficult bird to
find. It is fastidious, and as Mr. Brewster says, “four
things seem indispensable to his existence, viz.: water, tan-
gled thickets, patches of cane, and a rank growth of semi-
aquatic plants.” Such localities are not only difficult to
find, but also uninviting fields to explore.
“Tt is ventriloquial to such a degree that there is often
great difficulty in tracing it to its source. You advance con-
fidently enough at first, when suddenly the sound comes
from behind you. Retracing your steps, the direction is
again changed. Now it is to the right, shortly after to the
left; one moment in the tree-tops overhead, the next among
the bushes almost at your feet.”
THE WORM-EATING WARBLER *
The Worm-eating Warbler is much more retiring and
less often noticed than most of the species of warblers.
Unlike many of the species, its range does not reach to the
Northern coniferous forests. Passing the winter in the
countries bordering the Gulf of Mexico, it migrates in the
spring throughout the eastern United States, breeding
as far north as Illinois and Connecticut. Its dull color
and retiring and shy disposition eminently fit it for its
chosen hunting grounds—the deep and thick woods, bor-
dering ravines, where there is an abundant undergrowth of
shrubs.
Its song closely resembles that of the chipping sparrow,
and may even mislead the trained field ornithologist. As it-
deliberately hunts for insects among the dry leaves on the
382 BIRDS :
ground or on the lower branches of shrubs, its slow motions
are more like those of the vireo than of a warbler.
While walking through woods frequented by this rare
little warbler, the experiences of Mr. Leander Keyser are
that of all who have had the pleasure of meeting it among
the trees. He says: “Suddenly there was a twinkle of
wings, a flash of olive-green, a sharp chirp, and then before
me, a few rods away, a little bird went hopping about on
the ground, picking up dainties from the brown leaves. It
was a rare worm-eating warbler. The little charmer was
quite wary, chirping nervously while I ogled him—for it
was a male, and then hopped up into a sapling, and finally
scurried away out of sight.”
It builds its nest on the ground among the dead leaves
and under the protecting shade of large-leaved herbage or
low shrubs. The nest is rather large for the size of the
bird. Grasses, small roots, the fibrous shreds of bark, and
a few dried leaves are used in its construction.
THE BLUE-WINGED YELLOW WARBLER *
Not a great deal is known about many of the warblers,
and comparatively little has been observed of this member
of the very large family, comprising more than one hundred
species. This specimen is also recognized by the name of the
Blue-winged Swamp Warbler. Its habitat is eastern United
States, chiefly south of forty degrees and west of the Alle-
ghanies, north irregularly to Massachusetts and Michigan,
and west to border of the Great Plains. In winter it lives ©
in eastern Mexico and Guatemala.
260 BLUE-WINGED YELLOW WARBLER. COPYRIGHT 1900, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO
Life-size,
GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER. ROBVRIGHT, 1800, (BY A: W-\ MUMED AD, CHICAGG's
Life-size.
261
WARBLERS 383
It has been pointed out that the name of this bird is
misleading, as the blue of the wing is dull and inconspicu-
ous, and not blue at all in the sense in which this color dis-
tinction is applied to some other birds. When applied to
the warblers, it simply means either a bluish-gray, or slate,
which seems barely different from plain gray at a short
distance.
In half-cleared fields which have grown up to sprouts,
and in rich open woods in the bottom-lands, where the
switch-cane forms a considerable proportion of the under-
growth, the Blue-winged Yellow Warbler is one of the
characteristic birds, says Ridgway. The male is a persis-
tent singer during the breeding season, and thus betrays
his presence to the collector, who finds this, of all species,
one of the easiest to procure. His song is very rude. The
nest is built on the ground, among upright stalks, resting
on a thick foundation of dry leaves. The eggs are four or
five, white, with reddish dots. The food of the warbler
consists almost wholly of spiders, larve, and beetles, such
as are found in bark, bud, or flower. The birds are usually
seen consorting in pairs. The movements of this warbler
are rather slow and leisurely.
GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER
The range of the Golden-winged is the eastern United
States, breeding from Indiana and northern New J ersey
north to Michigan, southern Ontario, and Vermont, and
south along the Alleghanies to South Carolina. It winters
in South America.
384 : BIRDS
“The first glimpse of a new warbler is always memo-
rable, but an introduction to this dashing young fellow is
especially so. You may have looked for years in vain,
when suddenly one May morning you come upon him in
the swampy woods, restless, full of life, and in the highest
spirits. The young hickories are just about to open their
reluctant palms, the gallant mounts a high bud, throws back
his head, and sputters out ‘ Zee, zee, zee, zee, zee,’ in double
time in comparison with his drowsier relative, the blue-wing.
Without waiting for applause he charges after a vagrant
fly, snaps him up, and takes to a sweet-smelling spice-bush
for another round of music. A passing vireo, which, by the
way, was born thereabouts, is fiercely assailed by the swag-
gering stranger, and retires in confusion.” (Dawson.)
The nest of stems, pine needles, leaves, and grasses is
placed in a clump of weeds, tussock of grass, or small shrub.
The situations most liked are woodland pastures or weedy
fields. The four or five eggs are white, speckled with dark
brown and purple.
THE NASHVILLE WARBLER
The Nashville Warbler is common during the migra-
tions in many parts of the country. Its range extends from
the Atlantic Ocean west to eastern Nebraska and north into
Labrador and the fur countries, occasionally wandering
even to Greenland. It winters in the tropics south of the
United States.
In the northward migration it reaches Texas about the
third week in April and Manitoba near the end of the first
245
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER COPYRIGHT 1903, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO
( Helminthophila celata).
611 Life-size.
WARBLERS 385
week in May, thus passing completely across the country in
about three weeks.
The song has been compared to that of the chestnut-
sided warbler and to the chipping sparrow combined. To
my ear the Nashville warbler’s song is enough unlike the
song of any other bird to be easily recognized after a single
hearing. My note book renders it thus: “K tsip, k tsip,
k tsip, k tsip, chip ee, chip ee, chip ee, chip.”
In common with the other members of this genus, the
Nashville warbler nests on the ground, usually in a spot
well protected by dried grasses and other litter of the pre-
vious year’s growth, often in a tangle of shrubs, ferns, and
bushes. The nest is sometimes sunk flush with the surface,
and is composed of grasses, mosses, pine needles, strips of
bark, and leaves, lined with finer material of the same sort
and with hair-like rootlets, the composition varying with the
locality. The eggs are pure white or creamy-white, marked
with spots and dots of reddish-brown and the usual lilac
shell-markings, which are grouped more or less around the
larger end. They are four or five in number, and average
about .61 x .48 of an inch. Lynps JONES.
THE ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER *
The Orange-crowned Warbler is one of those warblers
which is quite erratic in its appearance in any given locality
during its migrations; some seasons it may be common and
in other seasons its presence may not be noted at all. It
breeds in the interior of British America, in the Rocky
Mountain regions, and as far northward as the Yukon dis-
386 ; BIRDS :
trict of Alaska. In its migrations it passes through the
Mississippi Valley, being very rare in those states border-
ing the Atlantic Ocean north of Virginia. It winters in the
South Atlantic and Gulf States and in Mexico, and is a
common species in Florida during this season.
This little warbler is constantly in motion during the
daylight hours in the foliage of the higher tree branches.
Seemingly to satisfy its tireless energy, it frequently stops
its hunt for insects to utter its simple song. Mr. Ernest
Thompson, in his Birds of Manitoba, describes this song as
sounding like chip-e, chip-e, chip-e, chip-e, and says: “Its
song is much like that of the chipping sparrow, but more
musical and in a higher key.” To Dr. Wheaton its refrain
is a “loud, emphatic, and rather monotonous song, resem-
bling, as nearly as he can describe, the syllables chiky-tick-
tick-tick-tick; this song was louder and more decidedly
emphasized than that of. any member of the genus with
which he was acquainted.” Colonel Goss hears in the song
“a few sweet trills uttered in a spirited manner and
abruptly ending in a rising scale.”
Its nest is usually built on the ground, in clumps of
bushes and quite hidden by dried leaves. The nest is large
for the size of the bird, and is constructed with plant
stems, strips of fibrous bark, and dry grasses loosely woven
together. Not infrequently, also, leaves are used in the
construction of this outer wall. The eggs are white with
rufous or cinnamon-brown spots or specks which are more
numerous at the larger end. They are four or five in
number and are deposited about June first. In size the
eggs average .63 in. by .49 in.
COPYRIGHT 1903, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO.
593 TENNESSEE WARBLER.
(Helminthophila peregrina).
Life-size.
WARBLERS 387
THE TENNESSEE WARBLER*
During the spring and fall migrations the Tennessee
Warbler is a common bird in many localities of the eastern
United States. Its breeding range extends from Minne-
sota, New York, and northern New England northward to
the latitude of Hudson Bay, and it winters in Mexico and
Central America.
This “nymph of the woodland ” is a very active bird and
extremely dextrous in catching insects which it seeks in the
foliage of trees, both of the forest and the orchard. It
seems to be especially fond of the willow trees and shrubs
that grow on the banks of water-courses, where there is an
abundance of insect life, and it is not an uncommon visitor
in the denser foliage of tamarack swamps. While it prefers
the borders of an open forest, it not infrequently visits, dur-
ing its fall migration, cornfields and vineyards, and may
even be seen in large gardens.
Constantly alert, the Tennessee warbler flutters through
the outer foliage of trees, where, with its sharp and slender
bill, which is admirably adapted for the purpose, it picks
innumerable small insects from the leaves and twigs.
Its song is not easily described. By many the song has
been likened to that of the Nashville warbler, but Mr. Brad-
ford Torrey says that the two are so decidedly different as
never for a moment to be confounded, though the former is
suggestive of the latter. The Tennessee’s song is certainly
much shriller than that of the Nashville warbler. Mr.
Ernest Thompson has described its song as beginning “ with
388 BIRDS
a note like chipiti, chipiti, repeated a dozen or more times
with increasing rapidity, then suddenly changed to a mere
twitter.”
The Tennessee warbler nests in low bushes or upon the
ground, building its home with fine fibers and grasses inter-
woven with mosses and lined with hair.
PARULA WARBLER
The range of the Parula Warbler is eastern North
America, breeding from the Gulf to Canada and wintering
in Florida and south.
The head and throat of this warbler is deep bluish-gray,
becoming much blacker on the breast. This appearance has
suggested the name parula warbler. Parula warblers have
been subdivided and are described as northern parula and
the parula. As usual, we find the larger or hardier bird
visits the more rigorous climates, as the northern parula,
inhabiting the states bordering the Great Lakes and New
England, is slightly larger than the parula which may be
found south of the Ohio River, ranging from the Atlantic
Coast to Texas. Both varieties are frequently called the
blue yellow-backed warbler.
The food consists of spiders, small insects, including
flies and various other winged forms, and caterpillars, which
they are very industrious in gathering from underneath
leaves and inconspicuous branches of the trees they fre-
quent. Like other warblers, they are highly useful to horti-
culture.
Aside from the cerulean warbler, probably no other
PARULA WARBLER. COPYRIGHT 1#01, BY A. W. MUMFORD CHICAGO
(Com psothlypis americana),
Life-size.
428
CAPE MAY WARBLER Aire tie.
231 (Dendroica tigrina). Seg 5
Life-size,
0, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO
WARBLERS 389
member of this family lives at so great an elevation above
the ground, except those forms which are partial to conifer-
ous trees. The peculiar song ends in a little screech.
Sometimes these birds nest in small colonies. Like the
cedar waxwing and dickcissel, they are irregular residents,
breeding in some parts during certain years and perhaps
they are not seen again in the same locality for several
seasons.
Their manner of nest-building is unique, as they are par-
tial to trees which are draped with usnea moss. Among the
hanging festoons of this “Spanish moss” the little birds
construct a cavity, into which they carry soft vegetable
substances, such as thistle-down and the “cotton” of the
cottonwood. ‘The nests are difficult to detect unless one is
fortunate enough to observe the birds when they are enter-
ing these long appendages. Usually four white delicately
wreathed eggs are laid in May.
THE CAPE MAY WARBLER
The Cape May Warbler belongs among the less common
species, but may be common for a day or two during the
height of the migration. It is very fond of orchards, where
it feeds among the foliage, snatching an insect here, a larva
there, and cleaning the bundle of eggs from the leaf over
yonder with an untiring energy. They also associate more
or less with the other warblers in the woods. They are of
great value to the fruit grower.
This species is found from the Atlantic Coast west to
the plains and north to Hudson’s Bay, passing the winter in
390 ' BIRDS ;
the tropics. It breeds from northern New England to
Hudson’s Bay, and probably in northern Minnesota. The
nest is built in a low bush in a wooded pasture or open
woodland, said to be partially pensile. The nest and eggs
are not readily distinguishable from those of several other
warblers. The males sing frequently from their perch on
the topmost twig of a spruce tree, thus misleading one as to
the whereabouts of the female and nest. The song resem-
bles somewhat that of the black and white warbler, but is
rather less wiry. It cannot be represented on paper.
The tongue of this bird is worthy of special notice. It
is cleft at the tip, and is provided with somewhat of a fringe.
This character is not peculiar to this species, but is found
in some honey creepers and in at least one foreign family
of birds, thus suggesting, at least, the relationship of the
warblers as a group. It might be asked, what is the sig-
nificance of this character as regards feeding habits? Appar-
ently nothing, since the feeding habits and food do not differ
from those of other warblers not having the cleft tongue as
greatly as the tongues themselves differ in structure. It is
apparently an aberrant character developed somewhat at
random among groups nearly related, or perhaps a remnant
of structure. Lynps JONES.
YELLOW WARBLER
The range of the Yellow Warbler is North America,
except the Southwestern States, breeding north to the
Arctic regions and wintering south to South America.
It is decidedly the commonest of the warbler family,
8] YELLOW WARBLER.
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COPYRIGHT 1900, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGC
964 (Dendroica caerulescens, Gme}).
Life-size
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WARBLERS 391
and is often called summer yellow bird, or wild canary.
The latter name is entirely inappropriate, and should refer
to the goldfinch. The yellow warbler is less retiring in his
habits than other birds of the family. It commonly nests
about our dooryards, along public highways, in parks, in
second-growth timber, and in berry patches, and is an
interesting and a highly useful bird. Probably no other
bird is imposed upon so frequently by the cowbird as is
this little warbler. Cowbirds frequently deposit their eggs
in the nest of this warbler before the owner is ready to
occupy her abode. As a result the parent frequently con-
structs another bottom to her nest, thereby disposing of the
cowbird’s egg. Larger birds are strong enough to throw
the eggs of the cowbird to the ground. Sometimes the yel-
low warbler is obliged to construct three basements to her
nest in order successfully to lay her own eggs and rear her
brood without having to feed the young cowbirds.
The nests are very artistically built of Indian hemp,
plant down, and sometimes sheep’s wool. The lining is of
willow down, cottonwood down, and feathers. The four or
five eggs are laid about June Ist. The background is
bluish-white and the markings are of dark brown, often
forming a wreath about the larger end.
BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER
The “ Black-throat” haunts the underbrush, particu-
larly laurel, maple, and oak shrubs. May and September
are the months we have this bird with us as a transient
through the middle United States. It breeds from the
392 . BIRDS
Adirondack, Alleghany, Green, and White Mountains west
through northern Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota,
northward to Labrador, wintering in the tropics.
The majority of our warblers have yellow or the bi-
colors, orange or green, in some parts of their plumage.
This handsome little fellow, like the cerulean, is blue above,
but the back, head, wings, and tail are much darker than
the corresponding parts in the sky-blue cerulean. The
throat is black, lower breast and under parts white. The
female has the blue replaced with greenish brown, but either
sex may be distinguished by the white patch on the wing.
In 1905 I encountered several males in full song in
northern Wisconsin. They were conspicuous while singing
as they perched upon low branches overlooking an open
spot in the timber, preferably where the ground was uneven.
Throwing back their heads and swelling their throats, their
song was a dainty imitation in style and quality of that of
our dickcissel. Three years later I revisited Butternut
Lake, Wisconsin, and after locating a couple of birds sing-
ing on a bushy hillside, I carefully searched the maple sap-
lings until I was rewarded by finding a nest. The four
pearly-white eggs were beautifully wreathed at the larger
end with dull reddish-brown.
MYRTLE WARBLER
The Myrtle Warbler ranges through eastern North
America, breeding north of the United States and winter-
ing from the Middle States southward.
The myrtle, or yellow-rumped, warbler is one of the
259 MYRTLE WARBLER. COPYRIGHT 1204
By A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO
Life-size,
AUDUBON’S WARBLER. COPYRIGHT 1902, BY A. W. MUMFORD CHICAGO.
(Dendroica auduboni.)
*/, Life-size.
WARBLERS 393
largest and commonest of the family. It occurs chiefly
east of the Mississippi River, and is represented on the
Pacific Coast by an Alpine form known as the Audubon’s
warbler. While the myrtle warblers differ decidedly in
plumage, either sex may be identified by the bright yellow
patch at the base of the tail feathers. This is clearly dis-
tinguishable when the bird flies or moves about through the
brush. Like most of our warblers, the myrtle is a migrant
in the Great Lakes region, arriving ahead of most insectiv-
orous birds, even before the foliage is out. While there are
no records of myrtle warblers’ breeding in the United
States, strangely enough, this bird has been found breeding
in Jamaica, West Indies.
The birds show a decided preference for coniferous
trees, and may be found nesting in cedar and hemlock for-
ests in company with magnolia, Blackburnian, and black-
polled warblers.
The nests are constructed of fine stems and grass, lined
with a few hairs and feathers.
THE AUDUBON’S WARBLER *
Audubon’s Warbler bears the same relation to the west-
ern United States that the myrtle warbler bears to the
Eastern States. It inhabits the forests and thickets of the
West from British Columbia southward as far as Guate-
mala in winter, and, as Dr. Coues has stated, it has rarely
been known to pass to the eastward beyond the line of arbo-
real vegetation, which marks the easternmost foothills and
outlying elevations of the Rocky Mountains.
394 BIRDS
During its migrations it is often associated with the
titmouse and the ruby-crowned kinglet. It may be seen
skipping about in the tree-tops, actively engaged in search-
ing for insects, which it will at times pursue in the air. It
may be readily distinguished from the myrtle warbler, which
it so closely resembles both in habits and actions, by its yel-
low instead of white throat, which is characteristic of the
myrtle warbler.
Its nest is usually built in cone-bearing trees at a vari-
able altitude of from three to thirty feet. These homes are
neatly woven and usually constructed of fine strips of bark,
pine needles, and twigs. They are lined with fine roots,
bark fibers, hair, and feathers. In Colorado it is known to
breed on the mountain sides at an altitude of nine or ten
thousand feet.
The habits of this little warbler are well portrayed by
Mrs. Whitman:
* The little bird upon the hillside lonely
Flits noiselessly along from spray to spray.”
MAGNOLIA WARBLER
The Magnolia Warbler breeds from Minnesota and
Manitoba eastward across the northern tier of States and
through southern Canada.
While passing through the middle United States, the
magnolia warbler is oftenest found moving quietly through
the bushes which line the banks of streams or lean over
swampy pools in the depth of the forest, where its bril-
liance seems fairly to dispel the gloom. _If one finds His
M AGNOLIA WARBLER COPYRIGHT 1900, BY A W MUMFORD CHICAGO
-< (Dendroica maculosa).
158 Life-size.
ah on a a a lk
CERULEAN WARBLER.
(Dendroica caerulea.)
¥% Life-size,
COPYRIGHT 1
WARBLERS 395
Magnificence fluttering above an insect-laden leaf, his cup
of joy is full. But the bird is no recluse, and numbers of
them join that bright array which consecrates our tree-tops
year by year.
The song of the magnolia, though not often heard, is
clear and musical and fairly distinctive.
The nests, hidden in evergreens, from four to forty feet
above the ground, are built of stiff stems, lined with fine
stems and a little grass. Four or five eggs are laid in May
or June. They are pale bluish-white, spotted and blotched
with different shades of red and brown.
CERULEAN WARBLER
The Cerulean Warbler, commonly called the blue war-
bler, inhabits the United States west to Nebraska and Min-
nesota, breeding from the States bordering the Great Lakes
northward through New England, Quebec, and Ontario,
and wintering in the tropics. This little warbler probably
haunts the highest timber of any that frequents decidu-
ous growth. It may be considered a rare summer resident
in northern Illinois and Indiana.
Audubon describes the song as extremely sweet and
mellow. The favorite call note is a dainty lisp, “ Tweet-
tweet-tweet-twee-ee,” ending with a trill or twanging effect
on the ascending scale. These birds of the tree-tops are
partial to elm and oak timber, usually at the edge of the
forest. Like the chestnut-sided warblers, these little fel-
lows have a smart bantam-like appearance, carrying the
tail rather high and moving nervously from twig to twig.
396 BIRDS
The nests are beautifully constructed, and remind one
of the abode of the blue-gray gnatcatcher. Externally they
are made of grass and bark fibers, bound with spider silk
and lichens; the inside of the nest is composed of fine stems
and grass. ‘These little nests are firmly attached to the
drooping limb of a tree, from twenty-five to fifty feet above
the ground. Four or five eggs are deposited.
CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER
The Chestnut-sided Warbler is one of the commonest of
eastern North American warblers, occurring chiefly west of
the Mississippi River, but in more southerly latitudes than
most of our warblers, excepting the yellow and the black
and white. The song of the chestnut-sided warbler is sug-
gestive of the yellow warbler, and the two frequent similar
growths of brush and woodland, but in different localities.
In central Ohio, northern New York, and the New Eng-
land States, this bird summers in company with the prairie
warbler. There are one or two nesting records for this bird
in northern Lllinois. It is an abundant summer resident in
upper Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. I found a
number of nests during the first week of June around But-
ternut Lake, Wisconsin. The birds seem partial to berry
bushes and small maples at the edge of woodlands.
The nests are loosely constructed of grass and coarse
stems, lined with finer material. The four or five eggs are
laid about June ist. They have a dull bluish-white back- —
ground and are spotted with shades of brown, chiefly at the
larger end. Hist
COPYRIGHT 1900, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO
CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER.
ORS (Dendroica pensylvanica).
263 eee
Life-size.
BAY-BREASTED WARBLER. COPYRIGHT 1900, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CH CAGO
154 (Dendroica castanea).
Life-size,
‘
+
WARBLERS 397
THE BAY-BREASTED WARBLER *
The Bay-breasted, which is also popularly called Autum-
nal, Warbler breeds from northern New England and
northern Michigan northward, its nest being found in low,
swampy woods, where there is a mixture of evergreens, oak,
birch, elm, and other trees. It is compact, cup-shaped, and
usually placed in coniferous trees, from five to fifteen or
even twenty feet above the ground. Fine shreds of bark,
small twigs, fibrous roots, and pine hair are used in its con-
struction. Four eggs are laid, which are white, with a
bluish tinge, finely speckled on or around the larger end
with reddish-brown. a
Comparatively little is known of the habits of this spe-
cies. It passes in spring and fall, on its way to the North,
being sometimes abundant at both seasons, but does not
tarry long. In general habits, at all times, it closely resem-
bles other species of the genus. In Oxford County, Maine,
says Mr. Maynard, these birds are found in all the wooded
sections of that region, where they frequent the tops of tall
trees. The species seems to be confined during the building
season to the region just north of the White Mountain
range.
Ridgeway says: “'Tanagers are splendid; humming-
birds are refulgent; other kinds are brilliant, gaudy, or
magnificent; but warblers alone are pretty in the proper
and full sense of that term. When the apple trees bloom,
the warblers revel among the flowers, vying in activity and
in number with the bees; now probing the recesses of a
™
‘
398 BIRDS
blossom for an insect which has effected lodgment there,
then darting to another, where, poised daintily upon a slen-
der twig, or suspended from it, he explores hastily but care-
fully for another morsel.”
THE BLACK-POLL WARBLER *
Few birds have a wider and more extended range than
the Black-poll Warbler. Wintering in the southern United
States, Central America, and the northern part of South
America, they move northward in the spring, reaching
Greenland and Alaska in June. Their range extends to
the westward as far as the Rocky Mountains. Their breed-
ing range is nearly confined to the regions north of the
United States.
The nest is interesting. It is usually placed on a large
branch at its junction with the trunk of the tree. A cone-
bearing tree is selected, and the spruce is preferred, as in
it the nest is more perfectly obscured. The Black-poll’s
house is not the delicate structure that one would expect to
find as the home of so dainty a bird. This bulky structure
is usually placed not higher than six or eight feet from the
ground. It is constructed from the fine twigs and sprays of
the evergreen trees and fine roots woven with weeds, moss,
lichens, and vegetable and animal hairs. The lining con-
sists of fine grass and feathers. Though the external diam-
eter of the nest is fully five inches, the internal diameter
seldom measures over two inches.
Mr. Langille has beautifully described the song of the
Black-poll. He says: “That song, though one of the most
4
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LHOMMAdGD
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(‘eVeIs evoloipusec)
‘HATANVM TIOd-MOVIA
WARBLERS 399
slender and wiry in all our forests, is as distinguishable as
the hum of the cicada or the shrilling of the katydid. Tree-
tree-tree-tree-tree-tree-tree-tree, rapidly uttered, the monot-
onous notes of equal length, beginning very softly, grad-
ually increasing to the middle of the strain, and then as
gradually diminishing, thus forming a fine musical swell—
may convey a fair idea of the song. There is a peculiar
soft and tinkling sweetness in this melody, suggestive of
the quiet mysteries of the forest.”
THE BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER *
Other common names of this beautiful warbler are
Orange-throated Warbler and Hemlock Warbler.
The orange-throat is only migratory in Illinois, passing
through in spring and fall, its summer home being chiefly,
if not wholly, to the northward, while it passes the winter
in Central America and northern South America. It is
found in New York and in portions of Massachusetts, fre-
quenting the coniferous forests and building its nest in
bushes or small trees, a few feet above the ground. From
all accounts, the nests of this species are elegantly and com-
pactly made, consisting of a densely woven mass of spruce
twigs, soft vegetable down, rootlets, and fine shreds of bark.
The lining is often intermixed with horse hairs and feathers.
‘ Four eggs of greenish-white or very pale bluish-green,
speckled or spotted, have usually been found in the nests.
The autumnal male warblers resemble the female. They
have two white bands instead of one; the black stripes on
the sides are larger; under parts yellowish; the throat yel-
400 BIRDS
lowish, passing into purer yellow behind. Few of our
birds are more beautiful than the full-plumaged male of
this lovely bird, whose glowing orange throat renders it a
conspicuous object among the budding and _ blossoming
branches of the hemlocks.
Mr. Minot describes the Blackburnian Warbler’s sum-
mer song as resembling the syllables wee-see-wee-see, while
in the spring its notes may be likened to wee-see-wee-see,
tsee, tsee, tsee, repeated, the latter syllables being on ascend-
ing scale, the very last shrill and fine.
THE BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER *
Not the least among the birds that assist man in his war-
fare upon insect pests are our beautiful and active warblers
that frequent the foliage of trees and shrubs, patiently gath-
ering their insect food.
One of these is the Black-throated Green Warbler of
our illustration. If we desire to examine its habits, except
during the period of migration, we must visit the forests
of cone-bearing trees in the Northern woods of the eastern
United States, in the Alleghany Mountains, and from these
points northward to Hudson Bay. It is almost useless to
seek this bird in other places. Here, high up in the cedars,
pines, and hemlocks, in cozy retreats far out on the branches,
it builds its nest. ‘‘ The foundation of the structure is of
fine shreds of bark, fine dry twigs of the hemlock, bits of
fine grass, weeds, and dried rootlets, intermixed with moss
and lined with rootlets, fine grass, some feathers and horse
hair.” The nests are usually bulky and loosely constructed.
sass BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER. — coPyricnt 1901, ey 4. w. MUMFORD, CHICAGO
‘ (Dendroica virens).
Life-size.
TOWNSEND'S WARBLER.
378 (Dendroica townsendi),
About Life-size.
COPFRIGHT 1961, EY A, Ww, MUMFORD, CHICAGO
WARBLERS 401
These rollicking warblers have a peculiar song which is very
characteristic and not easily forgotten. The descriptions of
this song are almost as numerous as are the observers. One
has given this rendering: ‘Hear me, Saint Ther-e-sa.”
Another has verp aptly described it as sounding like “ Wee-
wee-su-see,” the syllables “uttered slowly and well drawn
out; that before the last in a lower tone than the two for-
mer, and the last syllable noticeably on the upward slide;
the whole being a sort of insect tone, altogether peculiar,
and by no means unpleasing.”
The song of the black-throated green warbler is so
unlike that of the other warblers that it becomes an impor-
tant characteristic of the species. Mr. Chapman says:
“There is a quality about it like the droning of bees; it
seems to voice the restfulness of a mid-summer day.”
THE TOWNSEND’S WARBLER *
The American warblers include more than one hundred
species, grouped in about twenty genera. Of these species,
nearly three-fourths are represented in North America, at
least as summer visitants, the remaining species frequenting
only the tropics. Though woodland birds, they exhibit many
and widely separated modes of life, some of the species pre-
ferring only aquatic regions, while others seek drier soils.
Some make their homes in shrubby places, while others are
seldom found except in forests. As their food is practi-
cally confined to insects, they frequent our lawns and
orchards during their migrations, when they fly in companies
which may include several species. Mr. Chapman, in his
402 BIRDS
“Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America,” says:
“Some species flit actively from branch to branch, taking
their prey from the more exposed parts of the twigs and
leaves; others are gleaners, and carefully explore the under
surfaces of leaves or crevices in the bark; while several,
like flycatchers, capture a large part of their food on the
wing.”
The Townsend’s Warbler is a native of western North
America, especially near the Pacific Coast. Its range
extends from Sitka on the north to Central America on the
south, where it appears during the winter. In its migra-
tion it wanders as far east as Colorado. It breeds from the
southern border of the United States northward, nesting in
regions of cone-bearing trees. It is said that the nest of this
warbler is usually placed at a considerable height, though at
times as low as from five to fifteen feet from the ground.
The nest is built of strips of fibrous bark, twigs, long
grasses, and wool, compactly woven together. “This is lined
with hair, vegetable down, and feathers.
The eggs are described as buffy-white, speckled and
spotted with reddish-brown and lilac-gray, about three-
fifths of an inch in length by about one-half of an inch in
diameter.
THE PALM WARBLER *
There are two varieties of this species—the Palm or
Red-poll Warbler, and the Yellow Palm or Yellow Red-
poll Warbler. The latter is a native of the Atlantic States
and breeds from Maine northward to Hudson Bay. The
former frequents the interior of the. United States and
PALM WARBLER. COPYRIGHT 1902, BY A. W MUMFORD, CHICAGO,
505 (Dendroica palmarum).
Life-size.
WARBLERS 403
migrates northward as far as the Great Slave Lake. It
is seldom seen in the Atlantic States except during its
migrations.
Both varieties winter in the Southern States that border
on the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, in Mexico,
and in the islands of the West Indies. While both birds
are. often seen in the same flock during the winter the palm
warbler is much more common in Florida than is the East-
ern cousin. When together, the two forms may be readily
distinguished by the brighter yellow of the yellow palm
warbler. Three of the large family of wood warblers may
be called the vagabonds of the family, for they do not love
the forest. These are the palm, the yellow palm, and the
prairie warblers.
Wherever it is, it frequently utters its low “tsip,” a note
that is very similar to that of many of its sister warblers.
Dr. Brewer says: “They have no other song than a few
simple and feeble notes, so thin and weak that they might
almost be mistaken for the sound made by the common
grasshopper.”
The palm warbler’s nest is a trim structure, usually
placed upon the ground, and never far above it. The walls
consist of interwoven dry grasses, stems of the smaller her-
baceous plants, bark fibers, and various mosses. It is
lined with very fine grasses, vegetable down, and feathers.
Though this home is placed in quite open places, a retired
spot is usually selected. Here are laid the white or buffy-
white eggs, more or less distinctly marked with a brownish
color, and a family of four or five of these peculiar warblers
is raised.
404 BIRDS
THE PRAIRIE WARBLER *
This beautiful little warbler cannot fail to awaken an
interest in bird life in the mind of any person whose privi-
lege it is to observe it in its chosen haunts. ‘These are the
shrubby pasture lands and the open woods of the eastern
United States. It is more common in barren, sandy places
of the Atlantic Coast, where it seems to find an insect food
suited to its taste. It not infrequently visits orchards when
in bloom, especially those in retired localities.
“Tt has a curious song, if song it can be called, as much
like a mouse complaining of the toothache as anything else
I can liken it to—it is simply indescribable.”
The flight of the Prairie Warbler is neither strong nor
protracted. Yet it is one of the most expert flycatchers
among the warblers. It is not a social bird, and it is very
seldom that more than two or three are seen together.
The prairie warbler is prettily colored. The back is
marked with reddish-brown spots on an olive-green ground.
Beneath the eye of the male there is a streak of black which
is absent in the female. The throat and under parts are a
rich yellow color, with small spots of black on the sides of
the neck. The female is duller in color.
The nest is nearly always placed in the fork of a branch
of a tree or shrub, and never far from the ground. A wild
rose bush is sometimes selected. Mr. Welch describes one
that he found in such a place. It was mainly constructed
of “the soft inner bark of small shrubs mingled with dry
rose leaves, bits of wood, woody fibers, decayed stems of
PRAIRIE WARBLER.
(Dendroica discolor.)
About Life-size.
COPYRIGHT 1902,
BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO
Ce Go
ODVOIHD “THOSWNW ‘MH *¥ A@ ‘0061 LHOIHAGOO ‘aMNIGd NHAO
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WARBLERS 405
plants, spiders’ webs, etc.”” These were elaborately woven
together and bound by “cotton-like fibers of a vegetable
origin.” The nest had a lining of fine fibers and horse hair.
He also calls attention to the upper rim of the nest, it
“being a strongly interlaced weaving of vegetable roots and
strips of bark.”
OVEN BIRD
The Oven Bird, or Golden-crowned Thrush, ranges
throughout eastern North America, breeding from Kansas
and Virginia north to Manitoba and Labrador, south along
mountains to South Carolina, and wintering from Florida
south.
The general outline of the oven bird is suggestive of the
thrush family. Their name arises from their remarkable
nest, which is placed on the ground among the leaves, ferns,
or fallen logs, with the entrance on the side. The nest is
covered externally with dead leaves interwoven with grass,
and the lining is of fine round stems. Like the house of the
ouzel, wren, and magpie, it is large for the size of the bird.
The oven bird is a common transient throughout Illinois,
Indiana, and Ohio, a few remaining to breed, while in Wis-
consin and Michigan they are common summer residents.
Some authors describe the song of the male by saying it
resembles the word “teacher ” rapidly repeated eight or ten
times in succession, with greater emphasis on the last few
notes. To the writer it always seems as if the little song-
ster were trying to attract attention to himself by continu-
ally calling, “Me-sir, Me-sir, Me-sir.”
The four to six eggs are white, profusely covered with
406 BIRDS
spots of dark red. While walking over fallen logs, watch-
ing a beautiful male Blackburnian warbler, I noticed a bird
running through the leaves and moss with drooping wings,
as if greatly distressed. Its small size and striking appear-
ance at once disclosed the identity of the bird, and I care-
fully dropped to my knees and searched every square foot of
ground until I discovered a little opening through which
was displayed the handsomely spotted eggs of the oven bird.
Had the parent remained upon her treasures, her presence
would never have been suspected.
THE WATER-THRUSH *
The Water-thrush has so many popular names that it
will be recognized by most observers by one or more of
them. It is called small-billed water-thrush, water wagtail,
water kick-up, Besoy kick-up, and river pink (Jamaica),
aquatic accentor, and New York aquatic thrush. It is
found chiefly east of the Mississippi River, north to the
Arctic Coast, breeding from the north border of the United
States northward. It winters in more southern United
States, all of middle America, northern South America, and
all of West Indies. It is accidental in Greenland. In IIli-
nois this species is known as a migrant, passing slowly
through in spring and fall, though in the extreme southern
portion a few pass the winter, especially if the season be
mild. It frequents swampy woods and open, wet places,
nesting on the ground or in the roots of overturned trees at
the borders of swamps. Mr. M. K. Barnum, of Syracuse,
New York, found a nest of this species in the roots of a
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WARBLERS 407
tree at the edge of a swamp on the 30th of May. It was
well concealed by the overhanging roots, and the cavity was
nearly filled with moss, leaves, and fine rootlets. The nest
at this date contained three young and one egg. Two sets
were taken, one near Listowel, Ontario, from a nest under
a stump in a swamp, on June 7; the other from New Can-
ada, Nova Scotia, July 30. The nest was built in moss
on the side of a fallen tree. The eggs are creamy-white,
speckled and spotted, most heavily at the larger ends, with
hazel and lilac and cinnamon-rufous.
As a singer this little wagtail is not easily matched,
though, as it is shy and careful to keep as far from danger
as possible, the opportunity to hear it sing is not often
afforded one. Though it makes its home near the water, it
is sometimes seen at a distance from it. C. C. Magpie.
LOUISIANA WATER-THRUSH
The range of the Louisiana Water-thrush is eastern
United States north to the Great Lakes, wintering in the
tropics.
“ Amidst our more modest surroundings the Louisiana
water-thrush occupies much the same position relatively
that the water ouzel does in the mountainous regions of the
West. Both birds possess themselves of the wildest envi-
ronments to be had, and both are the animating spirits of
their chosen haunts. Although no one suspects any struc-
tural affinities between the two, a half dozen other close
points of resemblance might be noted, as poetic tempera-
ment and talent in song.
408 BIRDS
“Only the most picturesque and unfrequented glens are
tenanted by this poet-bird from the South. Where cool
waters trickle down from mossy ledges and pause in shallow
pools to mirror the foliage of many trees will you find the
water-thrush at home. Following an imperious chink of
question and alarm, he will pause at the water’s edge impa-
tiently, as though awaiting your withdrawal. The bird
stands with the body horizontal or with the hinder parts
elevated, jetting the tail vertically from time to time with-
out moving the head. If you pretend to withdraw, the bird
will wade about in the shallow water or search noisily among
the dead leaves, uttering an energetic chink, or he tries hid-
ing and disappears mysteriously behind a bunch of ferns.
Three minutes elapse, when the shrewd observer concludes
there must be a nest, and he moves forward, but the bird
flies down the glen, and no nest is found.
“Wherever the nest, the bird regards himself as trustee
of the whole glen, and his watchful fidelity is impartially
bestowed upon all parts of it, as every half hour or so the
male bird ranges its length. Now he dashes like a swallow
across some open glade; now he pauses on a log or stone,
alternately moving and inspecting until his voice is lost in
the distance.” (Adapted from Dawson’s “ Birds of Ohio.’’)
THE KENTUCKY WARBLER *
The Kentucky Warbler is recognized as one of the most
beautiful of the warbler family. It is altogether a conspicu- ©
ous bird, both on account of its brilliant plumage and great
activity, the males being, during the season of nesting,
MOURNING WARBLER.
(Geothlypis philadelphia).
Life-size.
COPYRIGHT 1900, BY A- W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO
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very pugnacious, continually chasing one another about the
woods. It lives near the ground, making its artfully con-
cealed nest among the low herbage, and feeding in the
undergrowth, the male singing from some old log or low
bush, his song recalling that of the cardinal, though much
weaker. The ordinary note is a soft “schip,’” somewhat like
the common call of the pewee. Considering its great abun-
dance, says an observer, the nest of this charmer is very diffi-
cult to find; the female, he thought, must slyly leave the
nest at the approach of an intruder, running beneath the
herbage until a considerable distance from the nest, when,
joined by her mate, the pair by their evident anxiety mis-
lead the stranger as to its location.
The warblers are migratory birds, the majority of them
passing rapidly across the United States in spring on the
way to their Northern nesting grounds, and in autumn to
their winter residence within the tropics.
MOURNING WARBLER
The Mourning Warblers inhabit the eastern portions of
the United States, but are comparatively rare west of the
Mississippi, except perhaps in Montana. They breed from
Nebraska and the New England States northward to New
Brunswick and Hudson Bay.
The bird bears a general resemblance to the Connecticut
warbler, a rare species; the latter, however, possesses a
white line about the eye which is always lacking in the
plumage of the mourning warbler. This warbler feeds,
travels, and breeds in low elevations, being partial to
410 BIRDS
growths of long grass and weeds in low, damp woods or
roadsides. The simple, clear song has been described as
follows: ‘“ True-true-true-tu-too,” uttered on the ascending
scale except the last two syllables, which convey the effect
of two low whistles. When feeding or otherwise engaged,
the birds seem to omit the first three notes, uttering simply
the lower tones. Like the little short-billed marsh wren,
they are fond of perching on a dead stump and singing per-
sistently for many minutes at a time.
The nests are of fine grass and stems, usually placed in
a dense clump of grass or between the stalks of some weed
or plant growing in damp ground. The background of
the four eggs is light creamy and the eggs are handsomely
blotched around the larger end with rich brown and lilac.
THE MARYLAND YELLOW-THROAT
One of the first birds with which we became acquainted
was the Maryland Yellow-throat, not especially because of
its beauty, but on account of its song, which at once arrests
attention. “ Wichity, wichity, wichity, wichity,” it announces
from some thicket or bush where it makes its home. It is
one of the most active of the warblers, and is found through-
out the United States, Canada, and Nova Scotia; in winter
it migrates to the South Atlantic and Gulf States and the
West Indies.
The nest is not an easy one to find, being built on the
ground, under the foot of a bush or tussock of rank grass,
sometimes partly roofed over, like the oven bird’s. The
eggs are four or five, rarely six, in number, creamy-white,
‘OZIS-OJV'T G-p
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WESTERN YELLOW-THROAT WARBLER. COPYRIGHT 1900, BY A+ WwW. MUMFORD, CHICAGO
258 (Geothlypis trichas occidentalis).
Life-size.
>= -
WARBLERS 411
speckled, chiefly at the larger end, with reddish-brown, dark
umber, and black; in some, occasional lines or scrawls
appear. The average size is .69 by .52 inch. Oliver Davie
says that the best description of this bird’s song was given
by Mr. Thomas M. Earl. One evening in May he was
returning from a day’s hunt, and, after a rest on an old log,
he was about to start on his journey homeward. At this
instant a little yellow-throat mounted a small bush and, in
quick succession, said: “Tackle me! tackle me! tackle
me!” The fact is, the yellow-throat has several notes and
is rather noisy for so small a bird. It is known by other
names, as black-masked ground warbler, black spectacled
warbler, brier wren, and yellow brier wren.
The female is much duller in color than the male, with-
out black, gray, or white on head. The young are some-
what like the adult female. C. C. M.
WESTERN YELLOW-THROAT
The Western Yellow-throat occurs from the Mississippi
River to the Rocky Mountains, breeding north to Mani-
toba and wintering in Central America. In habits and
general appearance he is very similar to the Maryland yel-
low-throat, which occurs in the Mississippi Valley, Great
Lakes region, and eastern United States north of the Ohio
River. From California to British Columbia, a sub-species
known as the Pacific yellow-throat occurs; in southwestern
United States, another form, called the Rio Grande yellow-
throat, is found, and we have the Florida yellow-throat in
the southeastern portion of the United States.
‘ONIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
LIBRARY
412 BIRDS
No bird sings with greater vim and vigor than the yel-
low-throat. It haunts the rank grass and low shrubbery in
wet places. The male may be heard calling “whee-chee-
chee,” which is the writer’s interpretation of the song. Some
authors describe him as saying “wichity, wichity.” These
birds destroy great numbers of worms and moths and their
larve, so are highly useful to the interests of man.
The nests are placed in thick clumps of grass, sometimes
in a low bush, well concealed by rank vegetation. ‘Three to
five creamy-white eggs with dots and lines are laid.
YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT
This large warbler inhabits the eastern United States,
west to Dakota, Kansas, and eastern Texas, north to south-
ern Ontario and southern New England, being a common
summer resident in various portions of the States bordering
the Great Lakes. It winters in eastern Mexico and Central
America to Costa Rica.
Thickets bordering roadsides, streams, and swampy
places are the most likely spots in which to look for this
bird, it being easier to find him by his notes than by his
appearance.
Mr. Frank M. Chapman says: “No other warbler is
possessed of the chat’s individuality. Although the chat
avoids rather than seeks observation, he by no means shuns
the habitations of man, and, when favorable cover was
offered, I have known these birds to nest in a village.
Because of the nature‘of his haunts, he has the bird student
at a complete disadvantage. When seemingly almost within
hs, ?
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YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT.
% Life size.
WARBLERS 413
reach, he is still invisible, and one might well imagine that
he intentionally leads him through the most impenetrable
part of his haunts merely to enjoy our futile efforts to see
him. If, however, you would see the chat satisfactorily,
fight him with his own fire. Seat yourself in a thicket and
with pursed lips squeak gently but persistently. Soon there
will be an answering ‘chut,’ and with due patience and dis-
cretion you may induce this elusive creature to appear.
“T do not recall a more suspicious bird than the chat.
Even the crow’s innate caution is sometimes forgotten, but
a chat is always on guard. While the cowbird frequently
deposits her eggs in the chat’s nest, they are seldom hatched,
but are destroyed by the owner of the nest, which owner is
apt to peck a hole in all the eggs and desert the nest. On
moonlight nights the chat often sings freely. ‘The voice of
the bird is flexible to an almost unlimited degree. It has no
note suggesting its place among the warblers. The song is
almost impossible to describe. It begins with two slow, deep
notes; then follows one high-pitched and interrogative note;
then several, rapid and even, and from that point on to the
end I have never been able to give any rendering of the
clucking and gurgling that completes the long song. His
love song is a woodland idyl, and makes up for much of his
shortcomings. From some elevated perch, from which he
can survey the surrounding waste for a distance, he flings
himself into the air; straight up he goes, on flapping wings,
legs dangling, head raised, his whole being tense and spas-
modie with ecstasy. As he rises he pours forth a volley of
musical-gurgles and whistles that drop from him in silvery
cascades to the ground like fairy chimes.”
414 BIRDS
In addition to the superior size of this warbler it may
also be distinguished by its short, stout bill, suggestive of
our flycatchers.
The nests are composed of long, light grass and stems, a
light but bulky affair, placed in thickets at low elevations.
The birds occur quite commonly along the Illinois River.
Three or four eggs are laid, usually from the middle of
May until the second week in June. The background is
whitish and the markings reddish-brown, quite thickly dis-
tributed over the entire surface.
HOODED WARBLER
The range of the Hooded Warbler is the eastern United
States, breeding as far north as northern Illinois and north-
ern Pennsylvania, and wintering in Central America.
“Take a lump of molten gold fashioned like a bird,
impress upon it a hood of steel, oxidized, as black as jet,
overlay this in turn with a half-mask of the gold, tool out
each shining scale and shaft and filament with exquisite
care, and you may have the equal of one of those ten-
thousand-dollar vases of encrusted steel and gold which the
Spanish are so clever at making—an heirloom to be handed
down from father to son. But let Nature breathe on it; let
the Author of Life give it motion and song, and you will
have a hooded warbler—not less beautiful that you cannot
handle it, but infinitely more so in that its beauty takes a
thousand forms, a fresh one for every turn of fancy that —
may stir an avian breast. ;
“To me the bird first came as a voice, a sweet and pure
HOODED WARBLER. OOPYAIGHT 1901, AY A. WW. MUMFORD, | CHICAGO
888 (Silvani mitrata).
Life-size
“Gat
1904, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO
CANADIAN WARBLER. COPYRIGHT
(Sylvania canadensis).
633 About Life-size
WARBLERS 415
but altogether puzzling sound, tossed down from a tree-top
on a foggy morning, an hour before dawn.
“The hooded warbler shows a decided preference for
damp woods where there is plenty of undergrowth. Beech
woods are favorite places if the other conditions are suitable.
Here the birds spend their time fly-catching along the mid-
dle levels, or descend to search the brush. The tail is some-
times carried half-open, after the redstart’s well-known
fashion; but otherwise the birds are much less fussy than
their salmon-spotted neighbors.
“Like most warblers, the hooded has a chip note of
alarm which is distinctive to practiced ears, while the male
has a song which is quite marked, “tsu-e, tsu-e, tsu-e, tsu-
wee-tsu.” The notes are ringing and musical, but the last
two contain a sort of vocal somersault, as though the bird
were attacked by a sudden inclination to sneeze. These last
notes would undoubtedly be mistaken for those of the Aca-
dian flycatcher, if heard alone. This is the common song,
but some variant forms occur.” (Adapted from Dawson’s
“Birds of Ohio.”’)
The nests of bark strips, stems, dead leaves, and grasses
are placed at low elevations in saplings or bushes. The four
eggs are flesh-colored, daintily speckled with purple and
brown.
_ THE CANADIAN WARBLER*
The attractive Canadian Warbler is not an uncommon
migrant, yet because of its natural habits it is not readily
observed, and is often considered of rare occurrence. Like
many of the warblers, it is somewhat erratic in its migra-
416 BIRDS
tions, and may be very abundant one season and very rare
the next. It frequents the edges of woodlands, and finds
the greatest satisfaction in the forests that border streams
and other bodies of water. It is quite partial to coniferous
forests, and, wherever these are found within its range, it
will be found more common in them than in adjacent hard-
wood thickets. It has an extensive range, which covers east-
ern North America, westward to the Plains, and from
Lake Winnipeg and Newfoundland southward. As winter
approaches, it passes through eastern Mexico to Central and
South America, where its presence has been noted in Peru.
It breeds in the Alleghanies and the more elevated regions
of New England and New York, northward to the limits of
its range, and westward to Manitoba. Its nests are also
occasionally found in the northern portions of the middle
United States.
Mr. Ernest E. Thompson describes its song as loud and
rasping, and gives it the following syllabic rendering:
“Rup-it-che, rup-it-che, rup-it-chitt-it-lit.” It sings fre-
quently during the spring, but becomes silent before the
close of summer.
The nest of the Canadian warbler is built upon the
ground in woods, in shrubby fields, or in shaded swampy
places. Audubon alone describes it as being found else-
where. He writes of finding a nest “in the fork of a small
branch of laurel, not above four feet from the ground.”
The nest is usually placed beside a log or among roots, and
is made of quite loosely arranged leaves, dried grasses and ~
weed stalks, roots, and hair; it is lined with hair; contains
four white eggs with chestnut spots around the large end.
AMERICAN REDSTART,
Life-size,
COPYRIGHT 1900
BY
“
MUMFORD
CHICAGO
5 “i, *
-"*, 8 FE
WARBLERS 417
REDSTART
The Redstart ranges from New York, Ohio, Indiana,
and Illinois northward. With the yellow warbler, Mary-
land yellow-throat, yellow-breasted chat, and oven-bird, this
handsome species represents the small detachment of war-
blers that spend the summer around the southern borders of
the Great Lakes region, especially west of Ohio. The red-
start is partial to damp woodlands and shady roadsides.
The males flit hurriedly from branch to branch, alternately
spreading their tails and dropping the wings. Each move is
the personification of nervous energy.
The males have beautiful patches of salmon-pink in both
the tail and wing feathers. The sides of the body are also
tinted with this beautiful shade. The style and color effect
are suggestive of the markings in our towhee, but the red-
start is much smaller. The plumage of the female redstart
is much less conspicuous than that of her mate. The beauti-
ful salmon shade seen in the plumage of the male is replaced
by light yellow. Her upper parts are pale brown instead of
black.
Decidedly a fly-catching warbler, feeding usually at low
elevations, capturing insects on the wing, and hunting for
their larve in the crevices of the bark and under the leaves
and stems, mark this beautiful bird as one of our very useful
friends.
The song is a hurried little twitter, uttered with a rising
inflection of the voice. The nests are placed within ten or
twelve feet of the ground, and are composed of Indian
418 BIRDS
hemp, fine stems, bark fibers, and cobwebs, lined internally
with fine round stems. Three or four white eggs, delicately
spotted at the larger end with light reddish-brown, are laid
from the middle of May to the middle of June. In spite of
the small size of the nest, the cowbird frequently deposits
one or two eggs in it.
CHAPTER XIX
THRASHERS, WRENS, ETC.
Mocx1nc-pirps, Catbirds, and Thrashers are all described
under the one sub-family, Minine. This group is distinct-
ively American, about a dozen species reaching the United
States. They are adepts at mimicry and are clever song-
sters, ranking first in execution. Their food consists of both
animal and vegetable life. Thrashers and mocking-birds
appear equally fond of grasshoppers and other insects and
small fruits. Many birds of this family show a decided pref-
erence for the haunts of man, and are familiar in shrubby
growths of populated districts. Most are decidedly warm-
weather birds.
Wrens, sub-family Troglodytine, are mostly American,
and are most abundant in the tropics. These nervous, active
birds inhabit thickets, where they creep into all kinds of
nooks and corners for their food, which consists of worms
and insects and their larve. Most species are highly
musical.
DIPPER
Mountainous portions of western North America, from
the northern portions of Central America northward to
Alaska, are frequented by the Dipper, or Water Ouzel.
While these bluish-gray birds are considered to be closely
related to the thrushes, they show little family resemblance,
419
420 BIRDS
except that they are exceptionally sweet songsters. Aquatic
as the mud hen, they run nimbly over the rocks and stones
after the manner of our little spotted sandpiper, tilting
backward and forward. In some ways their habits are sug-
gestive of our water thrushes, as these nervous birds are
constantly on the move. They are never found about stag-
nant water, but frequent the mountain torrents where the
water dashes over the rocks. Here they seek small forms
of animal life among the crevices.
One naturalist describes the bird as follows: “They are
the embodiment of a mountain torrent — bustling and ener-
getic; and their song is lke crystallized spray —sweet,
sparkling, and vivacious, taken with its surroundings. I
do not know of any other bird’s song which surpasses it.”
The beautiful nests are placed on a little ledge or shelf,
usually close to the water’s edge, where they are frequently
kept damp by the spray. Sometimes the roots of an
upturned tree afford a suitable site. The nest is a beauti-
ful ball of green moss, dome-shaped, with a small entrance
at the side. It is strongly arched over with leaves and
grasses and supported by twigs, the entire mass being
firmly cemented with mud. It is hardly possible to secure
one of these nests for museum purposes because of their
peculiar composition and the firmness with which they are
attached to other articles.
Four or five pure white eggs are laid. The latter half
of May and the first two weeks of June are the breeding
dates. The eggs bear a general resemblance to those of.
the purple martin. I have a set of four sent me from the
mountains of Colorado. ;
ciara RRR UTS Ow OO OL eae EE ELL Gane LAZIO AALVM AO AdddlGd NVJLYHNY £09
52 MOCKINGBIRD. COPYRIGHT 1900, BY A. W MUMFORD, CHICAGO
(Mimus polyglottos)
3T ife-ciza
THRASHERS, WRENS, ETC. 421
MOCKING-BIRD
The Mocking-bird is a member of the thrasher family
and, like the cardinal, is gradually pushing his way north-
ward and infringing upon the domains of the brown
thrasher, often called our Northern mocking-bird. While
the mocking-bird is found chiefly south of the Ohio River,
it is also found as far north as Iowa and central Illinois.
The Rocky Mountain form is considered a sub-species,
called the Western mocking-bird.
Mocking-birds feed chiefly on worms, beetles, small ber-
ries, and fruit, so is a useful bird economically. By many
sentimental writers rather than genuine naturalists, these
birds are considered the finest of American songsters; but,
while they have a great range and quality of tone, our fore-
most authorities have not considered them in the same class
with the wood and hermit thrushes, the bobolink, and the
cardinal. Some admirers claim it should be made the
National Song-bird.
Neltje Blanchan writes: “ With all his virtues, it must
be added that this charming bird is a sad tease. There is
no sound, whether made by bird or beast, about him, that
he cannot imitate so cleverly as to deceive every one but
himself. Very rarely can you find a mocking-bird without
intelligence and mischief enough to appreciate his ventrilo-
quism —slim, neat, graceful, and amusing, with a rich,
tender song, and with an instinctive preference for the
society of man.”
Before the enforcement of the American Song-bird
422 BIRDS
Law, which prohibits the catching and keeping in confine-
ment any of our native song birds, except by duly author-
ized parks and museums, this bird was a favorite pet. The
young are easily reared by hand, and many people prefer
them to the canary. Mocking-birds are most at home near
the habitations of man, and are especially fond of perching
on chimneys.
The nests are usually placed at low elevations, and are
bulky structures of grass, sod, and twigs, lined with dark
roots, horse hair, and cotton. Like the catbird and the
brown thrasher, they enjoy placing their nests in the most
impenetrable thickets. Four or five eggs are laid in May.
The background varies in different specimens. Some are
greenish-blue and others tan. The markings are in the
form of spots, varying in shade from rich chestnut to pale
brown.
CATBIRD
The Catbird ranges throughout temperate North Amer-
ica, breeding from the Gulf to New Brunswick and British
Columbia, and wintering in Florida and southward.
The catbird ranks high as a housekeeper, taking great
pains in protecting her nest from the sun. Her plumage
is a uniform slaty-gray or a mouse color, with a few red-
dish-brown feathers on the under tail coverts; otherwise
she possesses no suggestion of brown or rufous, so promi-
nent in the brown thrasher, a near relative.
The catbird shuns exposed situations. Though not a
timid bird, often inhabiting the undergrowth in public
parks or along pathways, both male and female are cau-
50 CATBIRD. COPYRIGHT 1900, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO
(Galeoscoptes carolinensis Linn.)
- ? Life-size.
THRASHERS, WRENS, ETC. 423
tious in their movements, seldom exposing themselves except
when flying from one cover to another. The brown thrasher
gives vent to his feelings by singing from exposed perches;
but the catbird, like the chat, talks and sings in hidden
places. Their alarm note, like their call note, sounds like
the mew of a cat, hence the name “catbird.” The song
proper is much like that of the brown thrasher. Catbirds
feed upon worms and winged insects, which they find in
the dense foliage, also upon berries and small fruit. Par-
tial to warm weather, they do not arrive until the foliage in
April is sufficiently developed to offer proper concealment.
“Reports from the Mississippi Valley indicate that the
catbird is sometimes a serious annoyance to fruit growers.
The reason for such reports may possibly be found in the
fact that on the prairies fruit-bearing shrubs, which afford
so large a part of this bird’s food, are absent. With the
settlement of this region comes an extensive planting of
orchards, vineyards, and small fruit gardens, which furnish
shelter and nesting sites for the catbird, as well as for other
species. ‘There is, in consequence, a large increase in the
numbers of the birds, but no corresponding gain in the
supply of native fruits upon which they were accustomed to
feed. Under these circumstances, what is more natural
than for the birds to turn to cultivated fruits for their food?
The remedy is obvious: Cultivated fruits may be protected
by planting wild species, which are preferred. Some exper-
iments with catbirds show that the Russian mulberry is
preferred to any cultivated fruit. Although the catbird
sometimes does considerable harm by destroying small
fruit, the bird cannot be considered injurious. On the con-
424. BIRDS
trary, in most parts of the country it does far more good
than harm.” (Farmers’ Bulletin No. 54.)
The birds are abundant in eastern North America,
where they frequently nest in the same shrub with the yel-
low warbler. The nests are quite bulky, being made of
stems, leaves, and hay, lined internally with dark rootlets.
The nests may be found in low situations, usually not to
exceed seven to eight feet above the ground. The four or
five eggs are laid in May, and a second brood hatches in
July. The birds call vigorously when their nests are
disturbed.
BROWN THRASHER
The Brown Thrasher ranges through eastern North
America, breeding from the Gulf to Manitoba and Maine,
and wintering from Kentucky southward. This is the only
bird bearing the name thrasher which occurs in eastern
North America. From western Texas across to the Pacific
several other thrashers occur. Arizona is the principal
region for thrashers. There, among the cacti and shrub-
bery, one may find Leconte’s, Palmer’s, Bendire’s, curve-
billed, and Cressal’s thrashers.
The brown thrasher, commonly called brown thrush, is
not a thrush, but belongs to the same family as the mock-
ing-bird and catbird. It is often properly called the North-
ern mocking-bird and in the South is often known as the
sandy mocker. It is a long, slender bird with long tail,
short wings, and curved bill. The upper parts are light
brown; the throat and breast are thickly spotted and
streaked with black. Less timid than the‘catbird, while he
THRASHERS, WRENS, ETC. 425
enjoys thickets, he unhesitatingly exposes himself, especially
to sing.
“He is a finished musician, and, although his repertoire
is limited to one air, he rivals the mocking-bird in the rich-
ness of his tones and execution.” (Chapman.)
The brown thrashers seem to be increasing in numbers,
and take more to the hedges in the fields. Some farmers
complain of their crow-like fondness for corn; however,
their fare of insects in the main makes them one of the
farmer’s best friends, though they do take toll of fruit.
Just at sundown I find myself among the hazel brush
examining the tracks of some wary woodcock. Suddenly
the air is filled with a series of trills, chirps, and warbles;
now he whistles, now he sings, and presently he appears
greatly agitated. This five-minute vaudeville announces the
return of a most welcome resident. The brown thrasher
hops about on the ground, taking great care in holding his
long tail aloft and looking at all trespassers curiously
through his lemon-colored eyes. A week or two later I
find myself in the same place, when I see through the brush,
among the leaves covering the soft mellow earth, what I
first thought to be a setting woodcock. It is none other
than Madam Thrasher, who has constructed a nest of stems
and grass containing four light blue eggs densely covered
with minute specks of brown. The lining of the nest is of
rootlets, and so differs from the nest of the woodcock. Some
nests are placed in brush piles, others in thorn-apple trees,
easily within reach of the ground. The first nest is con-
structed late in April and the birds rear a second brood in
June.
426 BIRDS
THE CALIFORNIA THRASHER *
One of the finest songsters among birds is the California
Thrasher. Though confined to the coast regions of Cali-
fornia, it is quite abundant and seems to bear to that locality
the same relation that the brown thrush, or thrasher, does to
the thickets further east. The song of this western thrasher
is exquisitely sweet, and by some it is considered far supe-
rior to that of any of the numerous songsters that frequent
the woods and brush of the Pacific Coast.
It is in the morning and in the evening that this thrasher
pours forth its song from some prominent and exposed
perch. Then, as it were, with all care dismissed from its
mind, all the energy of its being is thrown into a hymn of
nature. By some this song is considered richer than that
of the mocking-birds, though the thrasher has but one air.
Because of its short wings, the movements of this
thrasher are rather heavy. Its flights are short, and usually
from bush to bush, while constantly opening and shutting
its tail. Its life is not confined to trees and shrubs, for it
moves easily on the ground, hopping rapidly, with accom-
panying jerks of its tail. It is said that it will scratch in
the layer of old leaves under trees like a domestic fowl
when hunting for its food. It prefers insect food, and sel-
dom eats fruit of any kind, except when food of its choice
is scarce.
Its favorite haunts seem to be the regions of scrubby
oak and greasewood brush of the deep mountain gorges.
Here it builds its home, which “is a coarse, widely con-
‘QZIS-ajI'y 2
)9¥91HO ‘QHO4WOW “AM *¥ AS ‘G06! LHOINAdOD “MH HSV MHL NVINMOUTITIVO ‘ d9P
° CAROLINA WREN. COPYRIGHT 1901, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO.
445 (Thryothorus ludovicianus.)
About Life-size.
THRASHERS, WRENS, ETC. 427
structed platform of sticks, coarse grass, and mosses, with
but a very slight depression. Occasionally, however, nests
of this bird are more carefully and elaborately made. It is
always well hid in the low scrub bushes.”
Both the sexes assist in the care of the eggs, though the
male, as befits the father of a family, usually stands
guard over the nest, giving a quiet note of warning on the
approach of danger.
CAROLINA WREN
The Carolina Wren is found about the Great Lakes
region in limited numbers. Their true summer home is
south of the central portions of Illinois and Indiana and
south of Iowa to the Gulf and east to the Atlantic. In
southern Illinois and Indiana they are abundant. They are
resident except in the northern limit of their range. This
largest eastern wren nests about dwellings, sheds, brush,
fence corners, and fallen logs. They remain paired through-
out the year and are endowed with happy dispositions,
singing almost constantly from early February until early
fall.
They are musical and sing wherever found. Of their
several songs, the common call or alarm note may be
described thus: ‘“ Kurs t,” “ Whe-o-wow-whe-o-wow-
whe-o-wow,” or “Ju-piter, Ju-piter, Ju-piter, Ju-piter,”
may give some idea of the elements of its best-known
song. In tone and quality the notes remind one of the
song of the Maryland yellow-throat. His loudest notes
suggest the whistling of the cardinal.
428 BIRDS
The food of this useful bird consists chiefly of insects
and spiders. They hop about old logs, stumps, and debris,
intent on their pursuit of food. Mr. EK. R. Quick, a resi-
dent of Indiana, describes a pair of Carolina wrens that
frequented his premises a few winters ago and became very
tame. In January he was splitting some honey locust logs,
and the wrens, which sat within three feet of him, would
hop down among the sticks when they were split and pick
out the larve.
Mr. E. R. Ford, of Chicago, discovered a pair breeding
in Cook County, Illinois. The nest was placed in the hol-
low of a tree, near the ground. The birds usually carry a
quantity of grass, straw, moss, and leaves into a cavity, and
late in April or during early May four to six white eggs
are laid, spotted about the larger end with pale red and
brown.
BEWICK’S WREN
This bird is frequently described as the long-tailed house
wren. It is slightly smaller than the Carolina wren and
larger than our common house wren. There are many sub-
species, but the true Bewick’s Wren inhabits eastern North
America from Texas and Georgia rarely as far north as
the Great Lakes region. Along the Atlantic Coast it is of
only casual occurrence. It winters in the Gulf States. Like
the house wren, it exhibits a preference for populated sec-
tions, frequently spending the summer about a large resi-
dence, nesting in the vines, wood pile, or places that would
appeal to the little house wren. The range is extending
farther north. way
61
BEWICK’S WREN.
(Thryothorus bewickii).
Life-size
COPYRIGHT 1903, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO,
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About Life-size
THRASHERS, WRENS, ETC. 429
Mr. John Wright, of Bartholomew County, Indiana,
observed a pair that nested on an old mantel in a deserted
house for three consecutive years. The first two years they
built in a tin can, but the third year the tin can was miss-
ing, so they built right on the mantel. Mr. E. R. Quick,
another Indiana observer, records a pair that reared a num-
ber of broods in a gourd. Once the same pair of birds, after
hatching the first brood, brought forth a second brood from
a nest in a ball of twine lying in a binder.
Their song is finer in tone than that of the Carolina
wren. The alarm note is a distinct little “plit.” Among
our finest singers, they possess several songs, loud and pene-
trating.
The birds are great insect destroyers, and they are
doubly beneficial because of the number of young reared
in a season. Bewick’s wren is on the increase, doubtless
because it is able to withstand the saucy English sparrow.
The nests are made of the usual wren material, which
is an accumulation of twigs, grass, and feathers. The eggs
are white, minutely speckled with brown.
HOUSE WREN
The House Wren ranges throughout eastern North
America, breeding to Manitoba and Ontario and wintering
in the Gulf States.
This is little “Jenny Wren” whose tail sticks up like
a “sore thumb.” Some authors have considered western
Indiana as the western limits of our common house wren,
thereby classifying the species which occurs about Chicago
430 BIRDS
as the western house wren. From observations which I
have made in the Great Lakes region, I am of the opinion
that the distinction is not perceptible until we go west of
the Mississippi. In the territory between the Mississippi
and the Rocky Mountains the birds have a somewhat differ-
ent song and their plumage is slightly lighter. On the
Pacific Coast a still lighter form exists, known as Park-
man’s wren. The wrens partake of the habits of both the
thrashers and creepers. The house wren frequents barns
and gardens, and particularly old orchards. The food con-
sists almost exclusively of insects, including grasshoppers,
beetles, caterpillars, and bugs. These little birds often
select unusual nesting sites, such as an old coat in the barn,
brush heaps, tin cans, hitching-posts, abandoned woodpecker
excavations, and bird-houses constructed for the purpose.
The nests are remarkably large for the size of the bird, and
I have never seen one that could be removed intact without
disturbing the surroundings. Children should be encouraged
to put up nesting boxes for these useful birds. A tin can
with a hole too small to accommodate a sparrow, and no
stoop in front, is sufficient.
The male sings at half-hour intervals throughout the
day, from the time he arrives in the Middle States, late in
April, until well along into July. Old stump fences which
are used in some farming sections afford inviting breeding
sites. Numbers of wrens may be found breeding about
fields which are enclosed with this crude sort of fence.
I have seen the little fellows carry twigs eight inches
long endwise into holes not exceeding an inch in diameter.
One or two nests I have seen closely-embedded in a thick
ne WINTER WREN. COPYRIGHT
473 (Troglodytes hiemalis.)
About Life-size.
(902. BY A. WY MUMFORD, CHICAGO
THRASHERS, WRENS, ETC. 431
cluster of vines. The nests are lined with feathers, hair,
and grass. From six to nine eggs are laid and two broods
are reared in a season.
WINTER WREN
A trifle smaller than our house wren, the little Winter
Wren is found in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio only during
the late spring and early fall. It is not a conspicuous bird
while migrating, because it spends all the time about fallen
logs, old stumps, and brush piles. It often does not fly
until one is almost upon it. The only note as a migrant is a
decisive little chatter, but it sings sweetly in its summer
home. The winter wren summers from the northern bor-
ders of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and possibly
Michigan and Wisconsin, northward; it winters from New
Jersey and southern Illinois southward.
This wren’s song is described as “full of trills, runs, and
grace notes, a tinkling, rippling roundelay.” It reminds
one of the song of the ruby-crowned kinglet.
Like the water thrush and dipper, nothing is more invit-
ing than the roots of an upturned tree. Sometimes the
crevices of unoccupied buildings or wood piles are used to
shelter the nest, which is composed of small twigs, moss, and
leaves, compactly interwoven and warmly lined with the
feathers of various wild birds. The birds will desert the
nest if it is touched by human hands.
The four to six white eggs, laid during the latter part
of Mayor early June, are minutely and sparsely speckled
with purple and lavender, chiefly at the larger end.
432 BIRDS
SHORT-BILLED MARSH WREN
The Short-billed Marsh Wren ranges throughout east-
ern North Ar,crica, breeding from Manitoba to Massachu-
setts and south and wintering in the Gulf States and
Mexico.
In June, when the waters of the marshes and sloughs
have evaporated, the grass often becomes four or five feet
high where the little “short-billed” forages. In general
appearance he reminds us of his neighbor, the long-billed
marsh wren, but is darker in plumage and may be identified
by his song, which is entirely different, although expressing
the genuine wren gurgle. The wrens sing as if they had
some liquid in their throats and were attempting to gargle.
Rushes and cattails have no particular attraction for the
short-billed wren. He may choose a small scrub willow as
a suitable place to pour forth his notes to the female, skulk-
ing in the grass. Like all other wrens, the short-billed is a
useful bird economically because of insects destroyed.
In summer, when mosquitoes are aggravating, the bird-
lover does not travel these tangles with the same enthusiasm
as in April and June, when the pests are fewer and progress
more easy. Still, we long to know more about the home
life of the short-billed wren, and the song of the male
assures us that we will be rewarded if persistent in our
efforts. Perhaps it has not rained for many days and the
grass is dusty from pollen and plant down. I drop to my |
knees and move slowly through the grass, looking carefully
in all directions before advancing. Everitually a little bird
491 SHORT-BILLED MARSH WREN. COPYRIGHT 1902, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO
Life-size.
ay LONG-BILLED MARSH WREN. OPYRIGHT 1900, BY A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAG
Life-size
THRASHERS, WRENS, ETC. 433
flies slowly from the cover ahead and takes refuge behind
a little willow. Moving in that direction, I discover a round
ball, composed of long grass or hay, neatly woven to the
green stems, with a little opening on the side. Carefully
inserting my finger, I find the interior incomplete. This
nest will remain so. I mark the nest and soon discover
another grassy bulb which is uninhabited. ‘There appears
to be only one pair of birds in the immediate vicinity, so I
have disvovered two sham nests. There are probably one
or more additional structures, but only one contains the
pure white eggs. I now examine the nest which is exter-
nally the least attractive, only to find it warmly lined with
cattail down, on which are deposited seven eggs. Crouching
low in the grass, I await a visit from the birds, and pres-
ently both of them are preoccupied about the vacant nests.
What intelligent little fellows they are to seek in this man-
ner to conceal their treasures.
LONG-BILLED MARSH WREN
The Long-billed Marsh Wren ranges throughout east-
ern North America, breeding from the Gulf to Manitoba
and east to Massachusetts and wintering from the Southern
States into Mexico.
The long-billed marsh wren has been subdivided, though
very little difference exists in their general song and habits.
The type inhabiting the central United States and upper
Mississippi Valley is called the prairie long-billed marsh
wren. East in the United States and Canada is the summer
home of the long-billed marsh wren, the true form. Swamps
434 BIRDS
and sloughs, where cattails and bulrushes grow luxuriantly
either in fresh or stagnant water, is an attractive place for
these little creepers.
The song is a rather hoarse, rollicking warble, suggestive
of one with a chronic case of bronchitis, continued whether
the bird is at rest or in the air.
The food is insectivorous, and, therefore, these little
birds are of great value to mankind, although they do not
haunt the cultivated sections.
From three to seven nests are built, only one of which
is entirely completed and used. From external appearances
one might expect all of them -to be occupied. Whether
these extra nests are built merely for recreation, or for the
intention of deceiving their enemies, is a question open for
debate.
The nests are globular, with an entrance at the side.
Externally they are composed of dead rushes, grass, moss,
and a liberal amount of cattail down used as a lining. From
four to eight chocolate brown eggs are laid and the young
hatch in about ten days.
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