WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



black, extending up around his eyes. He has Ut- 

 ile to say, but is a diligent hunter, and it is most 

 amusing to watch him carefully searching a bush 

 from top to bottom before darting to the next one 

 and giving it the same painstaking inspection. 

 He is elegant rather than beautiful ; but the black- 

 throated green warbler is a real dandy. His throat, 

 too, is an arrow-head of pure black, with the point 

 under his bill and the barbs reaching back to his 

 wings, leaving the sides of the head clear yellow; 

 the back is olive-green and the under parts are al- 

 most white, while the tail has a conspicuous white 

 patch on each side. 



This is an exceedingly striking costume; nor 

 is the song one to escape notice. Bradford Torrey 

 says it means Trees, trees, murmuring trees — but 

 you must pitch your voice high in repeating it, with 

 a sudden drop on the long word. Another note is 

 a rapid rattle, a perfect imitation in miniature of 

 the cr-r-r-r-r of the kingfisher. 



Nearly all the warblers give a zeee-ing call, very 

 confusing to the beginner in ornithology, but after 

 a while he learns that each species has a little song 

 of its own, uttered in a nonchalant way, and pres- 

 ently he becomes able to recognize them apart. 

 Yet th^e always remain some that are doubtful 



i66 



