June 



cold as to be almost inaudible, and monot- 

 onous, while that of the creeper is much louder 

 and more varied. 



The last migrant of the season — the bay- 

 breasted warbler — is one of the few that are 

 said to have the peculiarity of adopting one 

 route in the spring, and another in the fall 

 migrations. According to one writer, ^^ Avoid- 

 ing the Eastern and Middle States, the majority 

 pass along the borders of the Great Lakes, 

 through Ohio, southern Illinois, down the 

 Mississippi Valley, across into Texas, and so 

 on into Mexico and Central America, where 

 they winter. Returning in spring they pursue 

 a more eastern route, keeping along the coast 

 as far as the New England States, where they 

 ascend the Connecticut Valley, generally avoid- 

 ing eastern Massachusetts. ' ' 



In other respects there is little to be said of 

 this warbler. To be fully appreciated, it should 

 have been one of the earliest instead of the latest 

 to arrive, for with all its brilliant predecessors 

 in mind, it can scarcely be called a handsome 

 bird, with its prevailing colors of chestnut, 

 black, and white; but at least it " counts one " 

 in the list, and, to tell the truth, it gives one a 

 comfortable feeling to read that it is quite rare 



175 



