THE BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER 



F the children had had the nam- 

 ing of birds we venture to say 

 that it would have been more 

 appropriately done, and "Black- 

 burnian," as many other names 

 of Warblers, would have had no place 

 in literature. There are about seventy- 

 five well known Warblers, nearly all 

 with common names indicating the 

 most characteristic colors or habits, or 

 partly descriptive of the bird itself. 

 The common names of this beautiful 

 Warbler are Orange-throated Warbler 

 and Hemlock Warbler. Some one has 

 suggested that it should be called the 

 Torch Bird, for " half a dozen of them 

 as they flash about in the pines, rais- 

 ing their wings and jerking their tails, 

 make the darkest shadows seem break- 

 ing into little tongues of flame." 



The Orange-throat is only migratory 

 in Illinois, passing through in spring 

 and fall, its summer home being chiefly 

 if not wholly, to the northward, while 

 it passes the winter in Central America 

 and northern South America. It is 

 found in New York and in portions of 

 Massachusetts, frequenting the conif- 

 erous forests, and building its nest in 

 bushes or small trees a few feet above 

 the ground. Dr. C. Hart Merriam 

 found a pair of these birds nesting in 

 a grove of large white pines in Lewis 

 county, New York. In the latter part 

 of May the female was observed build- 

 ing, and on the second of June the 

 nest contained four fresh eggs of the 

 Warbler and one of the Cow bird. 

 The nest was saddled on the horizontal 

 limb about eight feet from the ground 

 and about ten feet from the trunk. 

 Nests have been found in pine trees in 



Southern Michigan at an elevation of 

 forty feet. In all cases the nests are 

 placed high in hemlocks or pines, 

 which are the bird's favorite resorts. 

 From all accounts the nests of this 

 species are elegantly and compactly 

 made, consisting of a densely woven 

 mass of spruce twigs, soft vegetable 

 down, rootlets, and fine shreds of bark. 

 The lining is often intermixed with 

 horse hairs and feathers. Four eggs 

 of greenish-white or very pale bluish- 

 green, speckled or spotted, have usually 

 been found in the nests. 



The autumnal male Warblers resem- 

 ble the female. They have two white 

 bands instead of one ; the black stripes 

 on the side are larger ; under parts 

 yellowish ; the throat yellowish, pas- 

 sing into purer yellow behind. Few 

 of our birds are more beautiful than 

 the full plumaged male of this lovely 

 bird, whose glowing orange throat 

 renders it a conspicuous object among 

 the budding and blossoming branches 

 of the hemlocks. Chapman says, com- 

 ing in May, before trie woods are fully 

 clad, he seems like some bright plum- 

 aged tropical bird who has lost his 

 way and wandered to northern climes. 

 The summer is passed among the 

 higher branches in coniferous forests, 

 and in the early fall the bird returns 

 to surroundings which seem more in 

 keeping with its attire. 



Mr. Minot describes the Blackburn- 

 ian Warbler's summer song as resemb- 

 ling the sylables wee-see-wee-see, while 

 in the spring its notes may be likened 

 to wee-see-wee-see ', tsee,tsee,tsee, repeated, 

 the latter sylables being on ascending 

 scale, the very last shrill and fine. 



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