OF NEW ENGLAND. 121 



and associate with the "Red-polls" (D. pahnarum) and "Yel- 

 low-rumps." Moreover, in winter, spring, and fall, they find 

 much of their food upon the ground, as do the other warblers 

 that I have just raentioned, particularly the former. They 

 derive their name of "Pine-creepers" from the fact that they 

 occasionally cling to the trunks of trees, and that they can 

 move along the horizontal limbs with ease and activity ; but 

 I have never known them to progress iu the manner of the 

 creepers or woodpeckers. 



Their habits in summer do not differ very essentially from 

 those of the "Black-throated Greens." At that season, and 

 more particularly at the time of their migrations in April, they 

 may be found in woods of various kinds, but the}^ have a most 

 marked preference for pine-woods and groves, from which they 

 occasionally' ramble to near orchards. They do not often catch 

 insects in the air, but generally seek them among the higher 

 branches ; and it is often difficult to discover their whereabouts 

 — the more so that seemingly they are capital ventriloquists. 

 They have always seemed to me quiet and rather indolent, and 

 remarkably attentive to their dress. I have sometimes seen 

 them pause, for at least fifteen minutes, to smooth their feath- 

 ers or to rest, every minute "drawling out" their sweet note 

 quite mechanically. At other times they are very active, and 

 it is then impossible to keep sight of them for any great length 

 of time. As I have observed males, both in spring and sum- 

 mer, who apparently had neither mates nor nests, I think it 

 quite certain that there are bachelors among birds. ^"-^ The 

 Pine Warblers are not only extremely useful in protecting 

 our evergreens, but are also very charming, partly, no doubt, 

 because there is a spice of "something" in their character 

 which we cannot altogether sanction from a moral point of 

 view. 



{d). Their note is as deliciously drowsy as that of the 

 "Black-throated Green," but is not so often repeated, though 



32 There is other evidence that sucli is undonbteflly the case. An interesting 

 article on the subject has been written by Mi-. Abbott of New Jersey. 



