Sak PASSERIFORMES CHAP. 
olive-green, grey, or slaty-blue, with yellow or rarely orange under 
parts ; chestnut marks, white wing-bands, and the like, occasionally 
relieving the plumage. 
The head is) ‘oftem 
particularly dark or 
streaky. Mniotilta ex- 
hibits black and white 
stripes; Lrgaticus shews 
chiefly crimson and 
white; Granatellus is 
erey, black, and white 
above, but redand white 
with black collar below. 
Setophaga, the “ Ameri- 
can Redstart,” is mainly 
red and black, or red 
and plumbeous ; Cardel- 
Fic. 139.—Black-and-White y arbler. Jfniotilta lina is erey, black, and 
arid. Xe 
white with crimson 
cheeks and throat; Siwrus has olive-brown upper, and whitish 
under parts, with dusky striations. The bill is black or brown, 
commonly with pinkish, yellowish, or bluish mandible. 
These active, restless, and often shy birds either seek their 
food, consisting chiefly of insects and their larvae, worms, 
spiders, and even molluscs, upon the ground or upon the bark of 
trees. Many forms resemble Tits in their actions; J/niotilta and 
others ascend the trunks spirally hike Creepers; Sefophaga and 
its allies—and exceptionally Dendroeca—sally after insects like 
Flycatchers; D. palmarum and Siurus run along with the tail 
in motion, the former recalling a Titlark, the latter gaining, from 
its appearance and habit of wading, the name of Water-Thrush. 
The flight is usually swift, easy, and graceful, yet brief and 
frequently undulating ; Myiodioctes and Setophaga flit about alter- 
nately opening and closing the rectrices. Fruits, including conifer- 
and grass-seeds, vary the diet. Small parties collect in winter. A 
few species, such as Basileuterus, Setophaga, Myiodioctes, and Siurus 
have fine clear songs, but the usual utterances are feeble warbles, 
sweet whistles, reiterated “chirrups,” or mournful trills. The’ 
majority build their cup-shaped nests in trees, bushes, and thickets 
generally, Dendroeca in some districts choosing a fir; they are 
