PRAIRIE WARBLER 325 



His song is given as a rapidly uttered and 

 falling chce-to, chee-to, chee-tee-ee. 



Prairie Warbler : Dendroica discolor. 

 (See Fig. 181, p. 34G.) 



Under parts yellow, sides streaked with black ; cheeks marked 

 with black ; chestnut patch hetiveen shoulders. Length, 4'^ inches. 



Geographic Distribution. — Eastern United States; breeds 

 from Florida to Michigan and Massachusetts; winters in 

 southern Florida and West Indies. 



Hillside pastures and old, overgrown juniper 

 fields, whose little evergreens give character to 

 the landscape and afford cover quite to the mind 

 of Chewinks and Field Sparrows, prove also the 

 best places to look for the attractive little Prairie 

 Warbler. It may be known by the dark marks 

 on the side of its head and the reddish patch on 

 its back — points which can be seen when the 

 bird is perched on a low branch. 



The sono- of the Prairie is one of the most rest- 

 ful of bird songs. It is only a simple ascending 

 scale, as far as note goes ; but when listened to on 

 a quiet juniper hillside, its delicious z-y quality, 

 and the reposeful, leisurely way in which each 

 note of the upward scale falls on the ear, make it, 

 to me, one of the choicest of all songs. No hint 

 of the work-a-day hurry and toil is to be found 

 here ; for a moment you step aside from the care- 

 worn world procession and stop to listen to the 

 quieting voice of Nature, to whom hurry and 

 striving are unknown. 



