KIRTLAND^S WARBLER {Dcndroica kirtlandi) AT 



OBERLIN, OHIO. 



It has been 1113' rare good fortune to meet face to face three 

 Kirtland's Warblers during the season of migration just past. 

 On May 7 it was seen and heard singing in an orchard of some 

 three acres just outside the limits of Oberlin. The earl}^ hour 

 — 4:1.") A. M. — an overcast sky with fine rain and searching 

 north wind made a satisfactory scrutinj^ of the bird impossible. 

 Consequently its identity was not fixed. One could not see 

 the markings clearly in the feeble light. May 9th, at 5:00 

 A. M., in company with a considerable number of students, one 

 was heard singing in the " South Woods '' about a mile south 

 of Oberlin. Here, again, circumstances made it impo.ssible to 

 obtain a satisfactory scrutiny of the singer, but the song was 

 carefully studied and written out. On our return from the 

 woods at r5:oO, past the orchard mentioned above, the song was 

 heard again and the bird clearly seen and studied for some 

 time. Half an hour later the bird was in my hand for positive 

 identification. It .seemed a great pit^' to sacrifice .so sweet a 

 singer for a museum specimen. 



One may ask why I speak so confidently of three individu- 

 als when but one of them was positiveh" identified. In the 

 first instance it was both .seen and heard, and in the .second 

 clearly heard, and there is no Warbler .song like it. Even the 

 students remarked upon the unusual quality of the song and 

 its striking character. It was given from three to .six times in 

 succession at intervals of about fifteen seconds, then with a 

 prolonged pau.se .sometimes lengthening into ten minutes, but 

 often not over two minutes. It is likely, however, that the 

 longer pause was occasioned by the bird flying from one tree 

 to another because of my inquisitiveness. One does not meet 

 so rare a Warbler every day, and .so may be excu.sed for a de- 

 gree of over inquisitiveness. The song was loud and full, 

 given wdth all the vigor of a Wren or Kinglet ; the body being 

 straightened to almost a perpendicular direction, and the beak 



