and tree, where, hidden from the gaze of the observer, they hunt during the day 

 for their insect food. "Absent today, present tomorrow, the warblers come and 

 go under cover of the night, and we may give a lifetime to their study and 

 then know we have not mastered the laws which govern their movements." 

 They are "at once the delight and the despair of field student." Visiting the 

 woods some bright morning in May one may find the trees alive with the busy 

 little warblers. Probably there will be several species ; some of them but few 

 in number and rare, while other species will be more numerous in individuals. 

 Here they will spend the day hunting in a happy go-lucky manner, and, though 

 difficult to be seen, they will be betrayed by the simple note which pervades the 

 woods. Dr. Ridgway has said : "No group of birds more deserves the epitliet 

 of 'pretty' than the warblers; tanagers are splendid ; humming-birds are refulgent ; 

 other kinds are brilliant, gaudy or magnificent, but warblers alone are pretty in 

 the proper and full sense of that term." 



The Orange-crowned Warbler is one of those warblers which is quite erratic 

 in its appearance in any given locality during its migrations ; some seasons it 

 may be common and in other seasons its presence may not be noted at all. It 

 breeds in the interior of British America, in the Rocky Mountain regions and 

 as far northward as the Yukon district of Alaska. In its migrations it passes 

 through the Mississippi Valley, being very rare in those states bordering the 

 Atlantic Ocean north of Virginia. It winters in the South Atlantic and Gulf 

 States and in Mexico, and is a common species in Florida dtiring this season. 



This little Warbler is constantly in motion dttring the daylight hours in the 

 foliage of the higher tree branches. Seemingly to satisfy its tireless energy, 

 it frequently stops its hunt for insects to utter its simple song. Mr. Ernest 

 Thompson, in his "Birds of Manitoba," describes this song as sounding like 

 chip-e, chip-e, chip-e, chip-e. chip-e, and says : "Its song is much like that of 

 the chipping sparrow, but more musical and in a higher key." To Dr. Wheaton 

 its refrain is a "loud, emphatic and rather monotonous song, resembling, as 

 nearly as he can describe, the syllables, chicky-tick-tick-tick-tick ; this song was 

 louder and more decidedly emphasized than that of any member of the genus 

 with which he was acquainted." Colonel Goss hears in the song "a few sweet 

 trills uttered in a spirited manner and abruptly ending in a rising scale." 



Its nest is usually built on the ground in clumps of bushes and quite hidden 

 by dried leaves. The nest is large for the size of the bird, and is constructed 

 with plant stems, strips of fibrous bark and dry grasses loosely woven together. 

 Not infrequently also leaves are used in the construction of this outer wall. 

 That the little birds may have a soft bed upon which to lie. the nest is well 

 lined with fur and feathers where the 



"Blind nestlings, unafraid. 

 Stretch up wide-mouthed to every shade 

 By which their downy dream is stirred. 

 Taking it for the mother bird." 



479 



