14-1 BRILLIANTS IN PLUMES. 



loud and explosive as the redstart's. He breeds 

 from Northern New England, New York and 

 Michigan to the regions about Hudson's Bay, where 

 he and his blithe little mate build their nests in 

 spruce and hemlock and rear their young. 



There is something so exquisite and picturesque 

 about the chestnut-sided warbler, trilling in the 

 saplings before me, that I am half-disposed to award 

 him the palm as the most dainty birdlet — if I may 

 coin such a word — on my sandbank. You may 

 always know him by the chestnut chain that 

 extends along the sides of his body from neck to 

 flank. But he is otherwise curiously marked. 

 His crown is pure yellow, bordered with white, 

 which is again enclosed in black. An irregular 

 black crescent partly circles the eye, the lower horn 

 curving downward and connecting with the chest- 

 nut chain before spoken of. His back is streaked 

 with black and pale yellow, and there is also a 

 yellowish blotch on the wing. In spite of the 

 elaborateness of my description, I fear I have not 

 pictured him as vividly as he deserves, the party- 

 hued little darling. To be appreciated he must be 

 seen. His song is much like that of the magnolia 

 warbler. 



The Connecticut warbler is less flashy than the 



