The Birds' Calendar 



ment of manner and quiet elegance of plumage, 

 it is not surpassed by any of the warblers. 



With such varied combinations of brilliant 

 tints as are to be found in the warbler family, it 

 is doubtless impossible to give the palm of ab- 

 solute pre-eminence to any one species. When 

 I first saw the " black -throated greens" I was 

 positive that here was the finest of the group. 

 Twenty-four hours afterward I found a beau- 

 tiful specimen of the prairie warbler, and then 

 I was considerably shaken in my mind. The 

 next day I discovered the exquisite "hooded 

 warbler," and then how the " black-throat- 

 ed green ' ' stock went down ! To the bird-stu- 

 dent how many a warbler has been the idol of 

 an hour ! And when the " Blackburnian " ap- 

 pears on the scene, how it consumes to ashes all 

 its rivals, making one ashamed that his heart 

 was ever taken captive by any other. What a 

 satisfying little specimen, too, is the " mag- 

 nolia," for whom one's ardor is less intense, 

 but possibly more enduring, than for the Black- 

 burnian; while there is a delicacy of form and 

 hue in the Canada fly-catcher that is quite 

 enchanting. And then, too, apart from the 

 inherent excellence of any species, its degree 

 of rarity has so much to do in forming our 



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