OVEN-BIRD 



221 



Fall Migration 



The Bird and its Haunts. At Englewood, N. J., the Oven-bird 

 prefers dry, rather open, deciduous woods ; but it is by no means con- 

 fined to them, being also found in low, swampy forest lands with heavy 

 undergrowth. Passing most of its time on or near the ground, the 

 Oven-bird, in spite of its abundance, would not attract our notice 

 were it not for its loud, frequently repeated, unmistakable song, and 

 its sharp, readily recognizable chip. The bird utters this note with 

 irritating persistency as long as one remains in the vicinity of its 

 nest; its quickly aroused suspicions making it by no means easy to 

 study its home-life closely. 



Like other members of this genus, the Oven-bird is a walker 

 but it lacks the tail-wagging habit so characteristic of its congeners. 

 With tail often slightly raised and wings drooped, it steps daintily over 

 the leaves in its search for food, stopping at times to mount to the 

 lower tree branches, there to utter its song with great earnestness. 



The Oven-bird's nest, seen from above, is so like the leaves 

 among which it is placed that, as a rule, it is found only when a too 

 close approach frightens the sitting bird, who, slipping from her snug 

 home, trails pitifully over the leaves at one's feet. 



Morris Gibbs 1 describes a courtship scene in which the male Oven- 

 bird flew singing above the female, who was perched on the ground, 

 "describing every form of flight except that of regular sailing; first 

 dashing through space to the edge of the glade, which was probably 

 twenty feet across; then rising to the tops of the bushes, he would 

 flutter, half fall towards his prospective mate. On a sudden he 



