FAMILY MNIOTILTID^ 



" Mt. Hope." (Jewel.) Its song is characteristic 

 and somewhat mournful, a series of rather high- 

 pitched whistled notes. It responds readily to 

 an imitation of these notes, coming near but 

 always remaining concealed in vines or bushes. 



58. Family MNIOTILTID^) 

 The American Warblers 



These small insectivorous birds, an ex- 

 clusively American family, get their name 

 not from their warbling, for their song is in 

 most cases a high-pitched, often rather 

 weak and lisping strain, but from a super- 

 ficial resemblance in size and habits to the 

 European warblers, which are small birds 

 allied to the thrush family and which do, in 

 many cases, have a warbling song. 



The Mniotiltidce are closely related to the 

 tanagers, but are mostly of decidedly small 

 size, delicate build, and with a small, slender, 

 tapering, very slightly curved bill adapted 

 for dealing with very small insects only, and, 

 in many cases, have very handsome colora- 

 tion when in breeding plumage, though ex- 

 tremely brilliant colors are rare and metallic 

 colors never occur. Variation in plumage 

 with sex, age and season are often consider- 

 able. The typical warblers search for their 

 food among the smaller branches and twigs 

 of trees and bushes, and their characteristic 

 active way of climbing about and hopping 

 and fluttering from one branch to another, as 

 well as the small, weak bill, generally makes 

 it easy to distinguish them from the other 



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