IMIK lU.AC'K TIIRoATKI) CliW \f AUr.I.KU. 



IM^ACK and uliiic ami yray arc sober colors in tla-msclves, but a skillful 

 arrangiinenl of all three has producfd a haiidsonic bird, and one whose dainty 

 dignity re(|uires no meretricious display of gaudy reds and yellows. Warblers 

 are such tiny creatures at best that Nature has given little thought to their \iU)- 

 tective coloration. 'I'liis plain-colored l)ird does not, therefore, shun the green- 

 cry of fir and fern, and yet we feel a peculiar fitness when he chooses for a 

 song station sonic bare dead liiub, gray and solx'r like himself. 



Last year the first arrival in Seattle seated himself u|K)n a |)rojccting limb 

 of a dead cedar which commandetl the cpiiet sylvan depths of Cowan Park, and 

 left him fairly abreast of the Fifteenth .\ venue viaduct. Here he divided his 

 time between song and enjoyment of the scene, sparing a friendly glance now 

 and then for the admiring bird-man. His manner was com])laisant and self- 

 contained, and I felt that his little vocal ofTerings were a tribute to the jjcrfcct 

 morning rather than a bid for applause. 



The song of the P.lack-iliro.ited Gray is quite unpretentious, as Mrs, 

 l'..iili\ -.i\-.' ".1 ^itnpli- w .11 liltr l.i\. -rc-i'c-ccc-cc, zc, zc, zc, with the <|uiet 



woodsy (juality of x'ircns and cw- 

 nilcsccus, so soothing to the car." 

 It is this droning, woodsy (piality 

 alone which must gui<le the ear of 

 a listener in a forest, which may be 

 resounding at the same time to the 

 notes of the Hermit, Townsend, 

 \u(lul)on. Lutcscent, and Tolmie 

 \\arbkr>. Occasionally even this 

 fails. An early .song which came 

 from a young male feeding pa- 

 tiently among the catkins of some 

 tall, fresh-budding alders, had some 

 of the airy qualities of the King- 

 let's notes, "Deo dcopli. tin tin dii, tiro dco pli. dco dco pli, den dco pli" — a 

 mere fairy sibilation too fine for mortal cars U^ analyze, .\noihcr said Ijoldly, 

 "//(•() flidtjity: lico flidf/ity." and "Hro fiidtjity, chii zvi'o." 



Tliis Warbler is of rather irregular distrilnition in the western part of the 

 State, where alone it is found. .\ jircfcrence is shown for rather ojien wood- 

 land or dense undergrowth with wooded intervals. The fir-<lotted prairies <if 

 the Stcilacoom area arc approved, and the oak groves have their patronage. 

 During the Augu.st luigration I have found the bini almost abundant at Blaine. 

 They are curious, too, and by judicious screeping I succeeded in calling the 

 bird f>f the accompanying illustration down within five feet u|>on the over- 

 hanging limb of an apple tree. 



T.lt.M 



•Ll'i 



I.- /7i,./,. (r.-l.uJu-.h l-y II 



o\ i;Kn.\N(.i.\<, i.i.Mii 

 .M'PM-: trim:." 



a. Handlioolt of Birdt of W. U. S., p. 419. 



