THE BLACK- POLE WARBLER. 153 



Whereas most Warblers are restless, impatient, fussy, Black-polls are delib- 

 erate, decorous, self-contained. They are in no hurry; they have no trains 

 to catch or previously appointed trysts to keep. There is added reason, too, 

 for their leisurely passage, in that their summer camps are pitched far north 

 where spring is tardy also. 



In spring the birds seldom arrive before the 15th of May and oftenei 

 it is nearer the 20th. The males greatly exceed the females in number, so 

 that one really wonders when the females pass. It is possible that they do 

 not light largely until Lake Erie is traversed, since the species is reckoned 

 rare in the southern part of the state, and only tolerably common in the vicinity 

 of Columbus. For all the birds appear so slow the northern movement is 

 rather rapid, and only an occasional straggler is found after the 25th of May. 



It is always with a feeling of sadness that the bird-man views the arrival 

 of these birds which mark practically the close of Warbler season. It has 

 been too short, that period of bursting buds and twinkling wings; but now 

 the leaves are all unfolded, the fairy visitants have stolen away one by one — 

 and here comes Black-poll. To be sure his presence befits the season ; the 

 bustle of awakening life over, his monotonous droning chimes in accurately 

 with the murmur of bees' wings, and lies softly upon the pulsing tribute of 

 heated air by which the sounds are alike borne heavenward ; but somehow we 

 still rebel — youth was all too short ! 



The Warblers are lost to view now if they remain in the tree-tops, but 

 a foggy morning, or some reason less apparent, will sometimes bring them 

 down to feed in the shrubbery. At such times they are quite approachable 

 and one may see how — or at least ivhen — they produce that fair}- creaking 

 which they call a song. This consists of a series of exactly similar notes 

 uttered rapidly, but in a beautiful musical swell. Many syllables will satisfy 

 the ear, but Mr. Langille has perhaps hit it off the best when he says, "tree, 

 tree, tree, tree, tree, tree, tree, tree." 



The Black-polls swarm through our state during the fall migrations 

 when they may be observed from the last week in August well into October. 

 It is not probable, however, that any given individual passes so long a time 

 with us, but only that the species occupies such a diverse breeding range that 

 the impelling causes of evacuation are correspondingly diverse in form, and 

 asynchronous in action. 



