134 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



"tseeping" of a few seconds' duration; 

 the species differing, as a rule, only in 

 inflection and accent. For illustration : 

 here is my memorandum on the song of 

 the black-poll-warbler: "See, see, see, 

 see, see, see, see," each syllable distinct, 

 the first and last comparatively low, the 

 song evenly increasing in accent to the 

 middle, then as gradually decreasing to 

 the end, — like the chipping sparrow's 

 trill rendered much slower." 



It is probably impossible to get beyond 

 the point of occasional confusion in 

 mastering the songs of the warblers. 

 The song of our common summer yellow 

 bird or yellow warbler, is a typical war- 

 bler-song, as the singer is a typical war- 

 bler ; beautiful, animated, confiding, and 

 useful, this is one of the most interest- 

 ing, as he is one of the most common 

 summer residents. It is this little war- 

 bler who is so often seen pulling the 

 knots of a clothes-line for lint to line 

 his nest. The nest is usually built in a 

 bush, perhaps a rose-bush beside the 

 house. Made of fine shreds of soft 

 wood-fiber, horse-hair and the like, and 

 built, as above stated, in a bush, it is a 

 good example of a warbler's nest. 



habits than the yellow warbler. The 

 first two are wood-loving, while the last 

 prefers a patch of tall weeds bordering 

 a wood or bushy thicket. Among these 



THE BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER. 



The red-start, chestnut-sided warbler 

 and Maryland yellow-throat are com- 

 mon summer birds, more retiring in 



THE YELLOW WARBLER. 



weeds this warbler will skulk and scold 

 at an intruder, as much afraid of being 

 seen as his famous relative, the yellow- 

 breasted chat. The names in general of 

 these two are in fact very much alike, as 

 is their coloring, — the only notable dif- 

 ference in the latter respect being that 

 the whole side of the yellow-throat's 

 head is black, while the chat's head has 

 only a small area of black about the bill. 

 The red-start, a fly-catching species, is a 

 remarkably beautiful bird, — whole head 

 and upper parts glossy black; wings 

 with a broad band of salmon across their 

 middle, otherwise black ; middle feathers 

 of tail and ends of the others, black, the 

 rest of the tail salmon ; sides, bright sal- 

 mon-red ; belly, white. The redstart's 

 song and also the nest, is similar to the 

 vellow warbler's; the nest, however, is 

 placed in the crotch of a sapling, seldom 

 if ever in a low shrub. 



The black and white, Canadian, worm- 

 eating, Nashville, Connecticut, and Wil- 

 son warblers build on the ground ; while 

 the black-throated green, cerulean, 

 Blackburnian, bay-breasted, and magno- 

 lia warblers build in the coniferous trees 

 of Canada or northern United States. 



