April 



and white beneath. Its song is more varied 

 than that of many of the warblers, and in all 

 respects it is one of the most attractive of the 

 group. In their summer homes their prefer- 

 ence is for the pines and cedars, but in the mi- 

 grations the distinctive tastes of birds are not 

 so evident. 



The following morning added two more to the 

 month's list, although they probably came in the 

 *' wave " of the day before. Passing the Lake, 

 I heard the brown thrush or thrasher ' ' welcom- 

 ing the day," and 1 ventured to take a little of 

 the greeting to myself. He was high in a tree, 

 and in the heterogeneous vocal business as usual, 

 as if sampling all the melodies he could remem- 

 ber. In its miscellaneous character the song is 

 much like the catbird's pot-pourri, but with 

 richer tone. The thrasher is the other thrushes* 

 *' big brother," as his plumage and voice plainly 

 show. And, lastly, one of the smallest of war- 

 blers, only four and a half inches long, olive 

 above, with brick-red spots on the back, and 

 bright yellow beneath, spotted with black, called 

 the prairie warbler, possibly because its taste is 

 more for open land than for the woods. 



The following is the summary for April, the 

 majority of the forty species having been at one 



131 



