April 



lovers. The anatomical characteristics which 

 determine the family relationship of this group 

 could not be detected at a distance of five feet, 

 and yet there are other and more palpable re- 

 semblances which would lead even a casual ob- 

 server to associate them together. 



The distinctive points of this family, as viewed 

 by the field ornithologist, can be best presented 

 and remembered by a brief comparison of 

 warblers and finches, which are the two largest 

 families in America. 



Warblers are uniformly small — from four to 

 six and a half inches in length ; finches are not 

 so uniform in size, but average larger, varying 

 from five to nine inches in length. In general 

 the finches are rather plainly colored (a rule 

 that has several notable exceptions), while the 

 warblers, as a class, are strikingly beautiful. 

 Any feathery bit of black, white, blue, and gold 

 flashing among the branches is likely to be a 

 warbler, for there are few other specimens so 

 minute and beautiful. 



Some of the finches — for example, several of 

 the sparrows — have no merit as songsters, but 

 very many of them are quite musical, and some 

 are famous, so that as a family they are superior 

 vocalists. The warblers are inferior in this re- 



107 



