THE CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER. 



{Dendroica pennsylvanica.) 



LYNDS JONES. 



FOR one reason or another we 

 come to think of this or that 

 bird as an exquisite. This may 

 be due to color pattern, form, 

 carriage or song, but whatever it be, 

 the bird's presence adds color and 

 beauty to all our surroundings. It is 

 not easy to tell why the chestnut-sided 

 warbler impresses me as an exquisite. 

 His colors are not so bright, nor their 

 pattern in either the contrast or har- 

 mony that may be found with other 

 warblers, but there seems to be some- 

 thing about the bird that makes the 

 day brighter, the wearing field-work 

 easier, and hours of fasting forgotten 

 when he flits into view. I have some- 

 times half suspected that he was more 

 than half conscious of my admiration 

 from the manner in which he displayed 

 his pretty colors and trim form. But 

 no doubt this is base slander. The 

 slightly opened wings, spread tail, and 

 quick movements give an alertness to 

 the little fellow which adds to his other- 

 wise bright appearance. The females 

 and fall birds lack the distinct contrasts 

 of color found in the male in his spring 

 dress, but they usually have some trace 

 of the chestnut on the side of the body, 

 which, with the small size, will serve to 

 distinguish them from all others. 



The tree-tops seem to possess few 

 attractions for this warbler, but in vil- 

 lage parks he may often be found well 

 up among the branches gleaning from 

 the buds and new leaves for insects and 

 their eggs. In the woods he gleans 

 much nearer the ground, but I have 

 never seen him upon the ground search- 

 ing among the fallen leaves. Many 

 times he may be found among the low 

 underbrush, preferably not at the edge 

 of the woods, but usually a few rods in. 

 He seems rather partial to damp woods, 

 but may often be found among the up- 

 lands as well, where insect life is abun- 

 dant. 



The song is uttered while feeding, 

 the bird seldom arresting his search 

 for food, but turning his head this way 



and that scanning each leaf and stem. 

 It is often a less spirited song than that 

 of many other warblers, seeming to be a 

 sort of soliloquizing accompaniment to 

 the pressing duties of sustaining life, 

 but it is none the less a pleasing song. 

 There is a somewhat close resemblance 

 to some phrases of the yellow warb- 

 ler's song in the rendering of the chest- 

 nut-side, but a little attention and a 

 discriminating ear will readily distin- 

 guish the difference both in quality 

 and in quantity. The song is more 

 often heard on the college campus here 

 than in the woods, and there it sounds 

 something like this: ''Wee-chee wee- 

 chee wee-chee-e-e-e'' with the accent on 

 the first syllable of each phrase. This, 

 in common with other warbler songs, 

 cannot be well represented by a whis- 

 tle, but rather by hissing or whisper- 

 ing the syllables between the closed 

 teeth. The pitch is too high for my 

 whistle. In the woods a common form 

 of the song is, ''te te te te wee elm;" and 

 occasionally, '7c wee to wee to zvee tee e- 

 e-e." In the woods the song seems to 

 be far more spirited than in the village, 

 as well as being different. This differ- 

 ence may be rather due to the fact that 

 the first migrants are those that visit 

 the village, while the later ones are 

 found in the woods. It is well known 

 that with many of the warblers the first 

 singers, or at least the first songs heard, 

 are often different from the later ones. 

 In the vicinity of Oberlin, Ohio, this 

 little warbler makes his appearance 

 about the fifth of May and does not 

 leave for the north until the last week 

 of Ma}-. It can not be called common 

 at any time, some years not being seen 

 at all, but may usually be found in the 

 shrubbery fringing woods, or in the 

 shade trees in the village. None have 

 been found during the summer months, 

 and it is doubtful if any remain to nest. 

 The winter is spent in the Bahamas and 

 Mexico, and from there southward. 

 The species ranges north to Manitoba, 

 Ontario, and Newfoundland, and west 



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