XVII. 



THE WILES OF A WARBLER. 



" Hark to that petulant chirp ! What ails the warbler ? 

 Mark his capricious ways to draw the eye." 



We called him the blue, but that was not his 

 whole name by any means. Fancy a scientist 

 with a new bird to label, contenting himself 

 with one word ! His whole name is — or was 

 till lately — black-throated blue-backed warbler, 

 or Dendroka ccerulescens, and that being fairly 

 set down for future reference for whom it may 

 concern, I shall call him henceforth, as we did 

 in the woods, the blue. 



For a day or two at first he was to us, like 

 many another of his size, only a "wandering 

 voice." But it was an enticing voice, a sweet- 

 toned succession of z-z-z in ascending scale, and 

 it was so persistent that when we reaUy made 

 the attempt, we had no trouble in getting sight 

 of the little beauty hardly bigger than one's 

 thumb. He was a wary little sprite, and though 

 he looked down upon us as we turned opera- 

 glasses toward him, —a battery that puts some 

 birds into a panic, — he was not alarmed. He 



