BIRDS OF NEW YORK 377 



the species called Politician by Wilson on account of its habit of ornament- 

 ing the exterior of the nest with bits of newspaper, but in the few nests 

 which I have seen it was not evident that it ornamented the exterior of 

 its nest to any greater extent than I have observed of the Red-eyed vireo. 



Family MNIOTILTIDAE 



Wood Warblers 



Primaries 9, tail feathers 12; bill "conoid elongate"; rictus more or 

 less bristled; tarsus scutellate; size small; plumage usually variegated and 

 brightly colored, yellows, greens and blues often predominating. 



As many have remarked, this family is difficult to characterize by 

 positive description, the fact that they are unlike all the other 9 primaried 

 song birds distinguishing them sufficiently. Within the family itself there 

 is great variety both in the details of structure and in color and habits. 

 Some of the birds are exclusively arboreal, feeding among the foliage of 

 trees; others are scansorial, much like the creepers; others are terrestrial 

 and have acquired a walking gait like the wagtails; others approach the 

 flycatchers both in appearance and habits and in the bristling of the rictus 

 and flattening of the beak. In nesting habits they vary as much as in 

 their feeding. Some build a bulky nest upon the ground; others make 

 felted nests of exquisite structure in the tree tops ; others nest in the hollows 

 of trees; while some even build pensile nests among the branches. The 

 family is exclusively American, being evidently of neotropical origin, but 

 has invaded the nearctic region in considerable numbers, ranking as the 

 second largest family in the United States, and inhabiting the boreal region 

 almost to the limit of trees. They are insectivorous in habit and con- 

 sequently migratory birds. There is often a sexual differentiation in 

 color, as well as in seasonal plumage, the young commonly resembling 

 the female through the first season. About 150 species are recognized. 



