AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



HABITS. 



Among the great variety of 

 birds which we have in this coun- 

 try, none appear to attract the 

 popular attention to so great an 

 extent as the warblers; perhaps it 

 is because of their more brilliant 

 and divirsified plumage, which 

 renders them conspicuous among 

 the green foliage of the trees, and 

 furnishes a ready means of identi- 

 fication, especially among the 

 male birds. 



The black and yellow warb- 

 ler, as it is commonly called, is 

 one of the most beautiful of this 

 interesting family. It might be 

 called one of the most common 

 among the rarer warblers, being 

 neither very common, nor yet diffi- 

 cult to find in his season. During 

 the spring migration you can al- 

 ways find this bright little fellow 

 flitting about among the lower 

 branches or among the thick un- 

 der-brush in most any low woods. 

 It also shows a great liking for 

 apple trees when the buds begin 

 to open, assuming every imagin- 

 able attitude in his search for 

 small insects, and exhibiting the 

 greatest dexterity in catching 

 passing insects on tlie wing. Oc- 

 casionally it misses catching a 

 moth, and it is amusing to see 

 him make the most frantic ef- 

 forts to capture his prey. He ap- 

 pears to lose all control of himself, 

 but I have never seen him fail to 

 recover both himself and the 

 moth before falling to the ground; 

 then with a happy chirp he will 



fly back to the tree in search of 

 more food. These warblers are 

 not at all timid and are very in- 

 quisitive. If when observing them 

 you remain still, they will come to 

 the side of the bush nearest you 

 then with a defiant chirp retreat 

 back again, and their clear sweet 

 song will be heard from within the 

 depths of the foliage. 



They are very sociable birds, and 

 appear to be loath to leave your so- 

 ciety, for as long as you remain 

 quiet they will continue feeding 

 close by, every few minutes favor- 

 ing you with one of their choice vo- 

 cal selections. I think that Massa- 

 chusetts is about the southern lim- 

 it of their breeding locality. 1 

 found several nests of this species 

 in Massachusetts, and all have 

 been in pine trees from fifteen to 

 twenty feet from the ground, but 

 further north where they breed 

 more abundantly they build lower, 

 generally from three to ten feet 

 above the ground. 



If you happen to be in the vi- 

 cinity of their nest, both male and 

 female show great distress, flut- 

 ter about among the branches 

 with wings and tail expanded, and 

 uttering sharp warning chirps. 

 They are equally solicitious about 

 the welfare of their neighbors, and 

 if the home of any other species 

 is in danger they will add their 

 protestations to those of the par- 

 ents' and attempt to drive the in- 

 vader away. 



The fall migration commences 



