188 BIRDS OF FIELD, FOREST AND PARK 



there are more of the brown washings in her 

 plumage. You will often be puzzled by this 

 little lady in yellow and brown, but when her 

 '^chack, chack^^ of alarm brngs to her side him 

 of the black mask your doubts will be wholly 

 dispelled. 



I find these Warblers in summer more com- 

 monly in the alder swamps and ricks of bushes 

 that border brook and cove. In a bush near the 

 ground is built a bulky nest of coarse grass and 

 bark, lined with fine grass and tendrils. The four 

 tiny white eggs are finely spotted with brown. 

 It is said their song varies much in diflPerent 

 localities, but the one I hear is a loud and 

 melodious '^ wichery-wichery-wichery,^^ sung over 

 and over, many times a day, and at all hours, 

 with a swing that is very pleasant to the 

 ear. They are very common birds in their sum- 

 mer range, which extends from Georgia to 

 Labrador. They winter from the Gulf south- 

 ward. 



Yellow-breasted Chat. This is the largest 

 member of the Warbler family and, if the reports 

 of him are true, by far the most eccentric; and 

 enough of his peculiar traits are well established 

 to warrant that characterization. I have not 

 seen him in New England, but in northern New 

 Jersey I have found him in bush-grown tracts 

 and among sapling growths on the Orange 

 Mountains. 



Usually this is a very shy bird, but he is so 

 conspicuous in coloring and size as to make his 

 identification an easy matter. The upper parts 

 are olive-green. The throat and breast are 



