SIURUS AURICAPILLUS : OVEN-BIRD. 155 



GOLDEN-CROWNED ACCENTOR; OVEN-BIRD. 



SlURUS AURICAPILLUS {L.^ Szv. 



Chars. Above, uniform olive-green, the crown with an orange- 

 brown patch bordered with blacic stripes ; no light supraciliary 

 line ; below, pure white, thickly spotted with dusky on the breast 

 and sides; wings and tail like back, unmarked; under wing- 

 coverts tinged with yellow; a white eye-ring; legs flesh-color. 

 Differs little with sex or age. Length, 5.50-6.50 ; extent, 9.50 ; 

 wing, 3.00 ; tail, 2.70 ; bill, 0.50 ; tarsus, 0.85. 



The pretty and engaging " Oven-bird," so called 

 from the way it has of roofing over its nest, is a com- 

 mon summer resident of New England, perhaps more 

 abundant in southern por- 

 tions than in the recesses 

 of the northern woods and 

 mountains. It arrives the 

 last of April, and usually 

 reaches Massachusetts the 

 first week in May ; all 

 through which month the Fig. 36.-golden-crowned accentor. 



" , (Natural size.) 



woods and thickets echo 



to the loud accelerated chant with which the bird 

 proclaims the nuptial season. So incessantly and 

 obtrusively are these monotonous notes given forth, 

 that the luxurious song of the mating pairs long 

 remained unknown to naturalists, and the bird was 

 denied that reputation of eminent musical ability to 

 which it is not less entitled than the Louisiana Water 

 Thrush itself. The shrill wee-chee wee-ckee may be 

 heard almost any time during the summer while the birds 

 are breeding, but the real song is probably only uttered 

 during the pairing time. The birds linger in their 



