28 



Bird Studies. 



When you see a bird that is bright yellow all over, brighter on the crown, 

 and with decided reddish streaks on the under parts, it is an adult male Yel- 

 low Warbler. The female is similar to the male, but 

 Yellow Warbler, ^.j^^ under parts are often plain, with very slight reddish 



Dendroica aestiva (Gmel.). , , ^r^. .... , 11 • 1 1 



markmgs. The young are similar, but the yellow is dusk- 

 ier and there are no markings below, /u any plumage a Yellow Warbler may 

 be known by the yclloiu of the inner zcebs of the tail feathers. The birds are 



rather more 

 than fi \- e 

 inches long. 

 There are 

 two or three 

 Wood W^ar- 

 blers that 

 are c o m- 

 monly called 

 " Wild Ca- 

 naries." 



This is 

 one of them 

 and proba- 

 bly the bird 

 most eenerallv meant in such connection. The others will be dealt with as we 

 meet them. Suffice to say, there are no " Wild Canaries " in North America, 

 the true Canary being a Finch or Sparrow in its affinities, while the Yellow War- 

 bler is one of the so-called " soft-billed " birds belonging to a family widely sepa- 

 rated from the Finches. Yellow Warblers find nesting sites in the trees and 

 bushes about houses, and also along the banks of ponds and streams and the 

 edges of swamps. Here in some suitable crotch or fork, generally not more 

 than fifteen feet from the gfround. a nest of fine erass, woven with fibres of 

 plant stalks and fern down, is built. The lining is of finer material of a like 

 character, and horse hairs are generally a feature of the interior. The eggs 

 are from three to five in number, greenish white in color, spotted with vary- 

 ing shades of brown, reddish, olive, and lilac. These spots form a sort of 

 wreath of darker color near the lander end of the esfSf- The ecrgrs are about 

 two thirds of an inch long and a little less than half an inch broad. 



This is one of the smaller birds persecuted by the Cowbird, the eggs of 

 which are often placed in the Yellow Warbler's nest. 



YELLOW WARBLER. ADULT MALE 



