PRAIRIE WARBLER 109 



the ear. When uttering it, the bird is generally perched on 

 a rather high limb, but at other times it ivalks with pinkish 

 feet over the dry leaves or along 

 some low limb, with a constant 

 upward tilt of the tail. Towards 

 evening and at intervals during the 

 night, one is surprised, while walking 

 in or near woodland, by a burst of 

 rather rapid music from a bird high 

 overhead, and as he shoots earth- 

 ward a few phrases remind one of ^-^^^ 23. Oven-bird 

 the teacher teach of the Oven-bird. 



This is the famous flight-song of the Oven-bird, not rare, 

 but rarely heard, unless one happen to live in the very woods. 

 Its alarm-note is a vigorous tschuk. When the brooding 

 female is frightened off the nest, she tries to draw the in- 

 truder away from the spot by fluttering helplessly along the 

 ground, trailing behind her an apparently broken wing. 



Prairie Warbler. Dendroica discolor 



4.75 



Ad. $ . — Upper parts with a strong greenish tinge, when seen 

 in strong light ; when the bird is seen from above, reddish-brown 

 markings show in the middle of the back ; forehead, a line over 

 eye, and a spot below eye yellow; spot in front of eye and stripe 

 below eye black; wing-bars j-ellowish; breast bright yellow with 

 black streaks down the sides. Ad. 9- — With less, sometimes no 

 reddish-brown on the back. Im. — Upper parts olive-green; under 

 parts yellow; no wing-bars. 



Nest, in a bush or low tree, generally lined with horse-hair. 

 Eggs, white, speckled with dark brown, chiefly about the larger end. 



The Prairie Warbler is a summer resident of southern 

 New England and Long Island, but is rare in northern 

 Kew Jersey and in the lower Hudson Valley ; it is not 

 found north of Massachusetts, except in a few stations in 

 the Merrimac Valley, nor does it occur, so far as I know, 



