272 BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER. 



^^ A little hit of bread and no cheese;'' and one distinguished 



writer has indicated it simply by straight Hnes, thus, 



^ . In all these attempts I can detect a fair de- 



scription of the song, though none of them would have been 

 suggested to my ear. I never hear the song, however, with- 

 out thinking of the following resemblance : — " IVee-wee-su- 

 see," each syllable uttered slowly and well drawn out; that 

 before the last in a lower tone than the two former, and the 

 last syllable noticeably on the upward slide; the whole being 

 a sort of insect tone, altogether peculiar, and by no means 

 unpleasing. It seems somehow to harmonize finely with 

 pines, larches and hemlocks. 



The ordinary four syllables of this ditty are sometimes 

 increased in number in the first part, sounding like wee-wee- 

 7i'ee-wee-su-see, and it is then uttered more hurriedly, making 

 you feel that a breeze may soon spring up among the pines; 

 and generally the different strains are intermixed with sharp 

 chipping notes, making the bird appear more spirited as it 

 nears you sufficiently to bring these metallic notes within 

 hearing. 



Many a time have I strained my eyes after this little song- 

 ster, looking up into the thick cedars till my neck seemed 

 almost dislocated, and getting only an occasional glimpse 

 of him, so shy is he as he moves leisurely about in these 

 shadowy abodes. A sight of him, however, well rewards the 

 effort, for he is a rare beauty. About 5.00 long, moulded 

 after the Dendroeca, the olivaceous-green above often contains 

 fine triangular spots of black; the dusky wing and tail 

 feathers have a narrow, outward edge of white, while the 

 cheeks of lemon-3^ellow with a wavy line of blackish through 

 the eye, the white bars across the wing, and the jet-black 

 throat, breast and sides bounding the greenish white under 

 parts, differentiate him strongly. The colors and markings 



