SONG-BIRDS. Warblers 



Black-poll Warbler: Dendroica striata. 



Length : About 5.50 inches. 



Male: Black cap, grayish white cheeks, general upper parts striped 



gray, black, and olive. Breast white, with black streaks. 



White spots on outer tail feathers ; upper maudible brownish 



black, lower yellowish; feet flesh-coloured. 

 Female : Crown and back, olive-green, faintly streaked with black. 



Paler than male all through. 

 Song: Call note, "Screep,-screep." Torrey says that, short as the 



song is, it contains a perfect crescendo and a perfect decres- 



cendo. 

 Season : Late May and late October. One of the latest arrivals among 



the migrants. 



Breeds : From northern New England northward. 

 Nest: In evergreens. Nest large for the size of the bird, as Mr. 



Brewster notes several nests 5 inches across and 8 inches deep. 



They are made of terminal shoots of conifers, lichens, rootlets, 



and sedges, lined with grass panicles. 

 Eggs : Not especially marked. 

 Range: Eastern North America to the Eocky Mountains, north to 



Greenland, the barren grounds, and Alaska. South in winter 



to northern South America. 



The jolly Black-poll has all the vivacity and activity of a 

 Flycatcher, and, in fact, Dr. Coues gives it credit for many 

 of the Flycatcher's attributes, and says that it catches 

 insects on the wing with the same ease as the Wood Pewee. 



Some authorities say that the Black-poll climbs and walks 

 about the trees in the manner of the Black and White 

 Warbler. I do not think that it does this ; for I watched a 

 number of them at short range last spring, and while the 

 birds seemed to creep, they really flew about by means of a 

 short and rapid flip of the wings. 



Their call notes, which were the only ones I heard, were 

 very weak and scarcely distinguishable from other wood 

 sounds, and I have often mistaken them for the creaking of 

 a branch. Audubon says : "... its notes have no title to 

 be called a song. They are shrill, and resemble the noise 

 made by striking two small pebbles together more than any 

 other sound I know." 



101 



