106 



THE COLOGIST. 



heavens that t!ii*ir nielaai-holN" roar is 

 softened by distance into an enchanting 

 murmur and the "caw" of the crow, 

 balancing on the topmost spear, k)ses 

 its harshness and blends well Avith the 

 melody of the Winter VVren here below. 

 Under foot, the soft needles give a 

 springing el;i>tic sensation to the foot- 

 steps, and tlicir racy odor tempts one 

 to breatlie deei) and long. Farther on, 

 in the liry maple woods, an old sugar 

 house long since deserted, has become 

 the haunt of numerous noisy Chickadees, 

 while the swamp bey<nid gives promise 

 of Warblers by-aud-l^y. On escaping 

 tliither from the busy country road out- 

 side, one is tempted to exclaim with 

 Longfellow 



"This Is tlie forest jirlmevah 



'J'lie iiiurmuriuy pines ;tnd tlie lieinlocks. 

 Beardeii witli ino'-s aud in Karmenis green. 



Stand like . riiids of Eld." 



It is the middle of April and on first 

 entering this sylvan retreat, I am salut- 

 ed by the ever-pleasing song of the 

 Ruby-ci-owned Kinglet; instantly I be- 

 come absolved in a vain attempt to 

 ti-an,spose it tn ]):ii)er. Even while my 

 interest is thu> centered I am conscious 

 of cicada like trill near liy and after the 

 Kinglet lias discoverd me aud has 

 changed his tunc into angrj' chatter- 

 ings, I turn my attention to it. This 

 trill I notice is of the same pitch 

 throughout, biit lirst increases then de- 

 creases in jjouer. 



By the aid of a ])owerfid tield glass, I 

 can make out the form of a little bird 

 up a monster pine aud by his motions 

 1 recognize him as the Pine-d'eepiug 

 Warbler. Walking carefully along, 

 watching the ground very intently, lest 

 I should step on a stray twig, I at last 

 reached the foot of the tree, and 

 straightening up ])rei>are to shoot, 

 when I discover he is riot there. At 

 this moment the ti'ill sounds again l)Ut 

 tiiis time fartiier along and on repeat- 

 ing the operation I am again fooled. 

 Tids continues until the distant twelve 

 o'clock whistle warns me aftd I ;im just 



about to start for home when two ijjrds 

 flutter to the ground fighting savagely. 

 So rapid are their motions that I can- 

 not distinguish them, ])ut ere long one 

 gains the advantage and his defeated 

 rival seeks safety in flight. 



The victor, his breast swelling with 

 pride, mounts a small bush aud Ijegins 

 the well-known trill; it is never finished 

 however, and his lifeless form soon re- 

 poses in my hand. 



Next d;iy, the A\)vi\ "cold snap" ar- 

 rives and the sky is well ovei-cast with 

 clouds so I determine to see how my 

 bird friends stand the weather. I 

 again find the Pine Creepers, but how 

 changed their habits;they have descend- 

 ed from their airy bowers and now iu- 

 habit the deciduous trees of the swamp. 

 One can easily observe their habits now 

 and see how ajjpropriate the name of 

 creeper is, for apparently their best 

 hunting grounds are the trunks of the 

 trees, although numbers may Ije seen 

 hunting among the twigs with all the 

 diligence, if not quite the speed and 

 dexterity of other Warblers. 



As th<' season advances the males 

 develope a greater variety of notes; 

 sometimes they end their trill with 

 four clear whistles, sometimes they ut- 

 ter four pairs of notes, the first of each 

 pair the low, followed bj" the four whis- 

 tles. 



Thej' are now found everywhere; the 

 pine woods are full of them as a matter 

 of course, aud they maj- often be fouiul 

 in small patches of oak a mile or so 

 from the nearest pine. In the fall tliey 

 change their plumage and have the ha- 

 bits of tlie Bush-warblers. Their ap- 

 pearance is so like that of the Black 

 Poll and Bay-brea.sted Warblers (fidl 

 plumage of course) that it is no wonder 

 that they .-ire not oftener observed in 

 the fall. 



Stkw.\ht E. White, 



Kent Co., Micii 



