232 OVEN-BIRD. 



ing birds, but the species now to be spoken of pass most 



of their time in tlie undergrowth or on tlie ground. The 



Oven-bird Oven-bird chooses the latter locality. 



Seinrus aurocapiihis. lie lias bccu Well Compared by Mr. 



Plato LXiii. Burroughs to a little Partridge, and if 

 you have enough j^erseverance to find the author of the 

 sharp eheej) with which this somewhat sus])icious bird 

 will greet you, you will see a modestly attired little 

 walker daintily picking his way over the leaves and fallen 

 branches, with ci^est slightly erect, and head nodding at 

 each step. 



Probably, however, your first acquaintance with the 

 Oven-l)ird will be made through the medium of his song. 

 There are few bits of woodland where in May and June 

 you can not hear numbers of these birds singing. It is a 

 loud, ringing, crescendo chant, to which Mr. Burroughs's 

 description of "teacher, teacher, teacher, TEACHER, 

 TEACHES, " is so applicable that no one would think of 

 describing it in any other way. The bird seems to exert 

 himself to the utmost, and no one hearing this far from 

 musical performance would imagine that he could im- 

 prove upon it. But if some evening during the height 

 of the mating season you will visit the Oven-bird's 

 haunts, you may hear a song whose wildness is startling. 

 It is the flight-song of the Oven-bird, transforming the 

 humble chanter into an inspii-ed musician. Soaring high 

 above the trees, he gives utterance to a rapid, ecstatic 

 warbling so unlike his ordinary song that it is diflicult to 

 believe one bird is the author of them both. 



As an architect the Oven-bird is also distinguished. 

 His unique nest is built on the ground of coarse grasses, 

 weed stalks, leaves, and rootlets, and is roofed over, the 

 entrance being at one side. It thus resembles an old- 

 fashioned Dutch oven, and its shape is the origin of its 

 builder's name. The Oven-bird arrives from the South 



