THF KRNrUCKV WARBl.FR. 



l'rr\\"l\l\X sixty ami sevcniy 

 w.ublci-s viro described by 

 Davie in his ^* Nests and 

 iCs^ii^^ <-"'f North American 

 nirds,'' and the Retiiuckv* 

 Warbler is recoj^uizcd as one of the 

 ina-^t beantifnl of the nnmber, in its 

 nannors ahnost the connterjwrt of the 

 Ciolden Crowned Thrush (st.xMi to 

 deliiihl the eyes of the readers of 

 HiRixs), thonv;h it is altoiiether a 

 more conspicuous bini, both on 

 account of its brilliant pluniaj^e and 

 i^rcaur activity, the males beinj^, 

 duiiui; ihe sCvison of neslins^, very 

 puiiiu\cions, continually chasing one 

 another about the woixls. It lives 

 near the around, makinjj its artt'nlly 

 concealed nest amouj; theUnv herbaj^e 

 and fecdins;' in the uuderijtvnvlh, the 

 nu\le siui^ino- front some old loo- or 

 low bush, liis sono; recalling; that of 

 the Cardinal, thoui;h much weaker. 



The ovdinarv note is a soft 

 \. Vf/.A. somcwliat like the common 

 .all of tiie Tcwcc. Considcrinj:^ its 

 i^reat abundance, .^ays an observer, the 

 nest of this charmer is very dithcult 

 to tuul; the temalc, he thought, must 

 -^hh- lca\e the nest at the approach of 

 au inluuUM, umnini; beneath the 

 herbage until a cousideralMe distance 

 from the nest, when, joined by her 

 male, the pair by their evidet\t anxiet\- 

 inisl(.\ul the stvani^er as to its location. 



It has been dcclaicd that no i^ronp 

 o[' birds better deserves the epithet 

 "pretty "than the Warbleis. 'Managers 

 are splendid, Humming Hirds ret'id- 

 !^c!U, others brilliant, gaudy, c>r mag- 

 uifux-ui, but Warblers alone ate prettv. 



The Warblers are mii^ratoi\- birds, 

 the majoritv o( them passing rapidly 

 across the United States in spring on 

 the wav to their northern nesting 



grc>unds, and in atitnmn to their wiutet 

 residence within the tropics. When 

 tlie apple trees bkx>ni they revel 

 among the flowers, vicing in activity 

 and innnbei-s with tl)e bees; "now 

 probing the Recesses of a bUvssoni for 

 an insect, then darting to another, 

 where, jx^ised daintily upon a slender 

 twig, or suspendcil tVom it. thev 

 explore hastily but c.uetully tor 

 another morsel. l\very movement is 

 the personification of nervous activity, 

 as if the time for their journey was 

 short; as, indeed, appears to be the 

 case, for two or three ilays at mast suf- 

 fice some species in a single locality.'' 

 We recently saw a letter fnnn a 

 gentleman living .u l..ike (.^ene\.i, in 

 which he referred with enthusi.ism t».> 

 liiKi>s, because it luul en.ibled him to 

 identify a binl which he had ot'ten 

 seen in the apple trees among the 

 blos.soms, particularly the piesent 

 se.ison. with which he was tutac- 

 quainted bv name. It was the (.'irehard 

 Oriole, and he was glad to have a 

 directorv of nature which would enable 

 him to add to his knowledge ami correct 

 errors of ob.serxation. The idea is a 

 capitol one,aud the beautitul K.entuck\- 

 W.irbler, unknown to mau\ whi^ see 

 it often, may be recogni*ted in the 

 same wa\" by residents of .southern 

 Indiana and Illinois, R.uisas, svMuc 

 localities in iMiio, particularly in the 

 southwestern portion, in parts oi' \c\\ 

 York and New Jersey, in the l>islrict 

 of Columbia, and in North Carolina, 

 ll has not heretofore been possible, 

 even with the best paitited specimens 

 of birds in the hatul, to satisfactorily 

 ideutifv the prettv cre.itures, but with 

 HiKixs as a companion, which nia\ 

 readily be consulted, the siiuleut c.ui- 

 not be led itito error. 



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