FAMILY Mniotiltidz. 
Wilson’s Wilson’s Warbler, or Wilson’s Blackcap 
Warbler as he is often called, is sufficiently common 
Wilsonia 
pattie about New York and Boston to be included 
L.5.ooinches in the list of familiar Warblers. Except 
May 15th ' for the black cap he is not conspicuously 
marked. Forehead a slightly greenish yellow; crown 
black; upper parts bright olive green including the 
wings and tail; no wing-bars nor tail patches; under 
parts bright'light yellow; bill with conspicuous bristles 
at the base. Female similarly colored but lacking the 
black cap. Nest on the ground generally in thin, 
swampy woods; it is built of leaves, grasses, and mosses, 
and lined with finer material of a similar nature. Egg 
cream white speckled with madder brown and pale 
madder purple (lavender). This bird is distributed 
throughout eastern and northern America, and breeds 
from the northern boundaries of the United States north- 
ward; it winters in Central America. This familiar lit- 
tle Warbler is the one most frequently found in the 
tangled undergrowth of swampy woodlands; he appa- 
rently prefers the damp woods near the water where he 
can easily capture on the wing the insects which form his 
natural prey. 
The song of Wilson’s Warbler is very short and 
similar to that of the Redstart; the bird’s voice is thin 
and almost insectlike, the pitch is extremely high, and 
the quality is slightly suggestive of an overtone, though 
there is not enough of that to remind one in the remotest 
way of the Black-throated Blue’s voice. Nuttall writes 
the song ‘‘’tsh-’tsh-tsh-tshea,” which, in a measure, 
suggests the quality of tone, and the evenness of the 
rhythm, but it throws no light on what might be called 
the song’s structure; that can only be properly expressed 
by notation, and the following is the nearest approach to 
its rather subtile though simple character: 
Visser ay eeneem 3 times 8va. 
Tsh, tsh, tsh tshea. 
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