no8 



Rural School Leaflet 



Ovenbird, "Teacher bird." — Size: Slightly larger than the English 

 sparrow. 



General color: Above, uniform olive-brown; below, white, streaked 

 with black. 



Distinctive features: On top of the head is an orange-brown patch. 

 This, with its general color and habit of walking about on the ground 

 in dry woods, will distinguish it. Its song resembles the words, Teacher, 

 teacher, teacher, repeated with increasing rapidity. 



Ovenbird 



" In the days of spring migrations, 

 Days when warbler hosts move northward, 

 To the forests, to the leaf beds, 

 Comes the tiny oven builder. 



" Hour by hour his voice he raises, 

 Mingling with the red-eye's snatches, 

 Answering to the hermit's anthem; 

 Rising — falling, like a wind breath." 



FRANK BOLLES 



