OF EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA* Ql 



Subfamily Sylvicolinae. Warblers. 



The above group is especially characteristic of 

 North America; the entire genera with the major 

 part of the species, being summer residents, which 

 mostly winter in Mexico, West Indies, and Cen- 

 tral America. The genus Dendrceca is character- 

 istic of the Eastern United States. They may be 

 classed as creeping warblers which have the poste- 

 rior digit longer than its claw, and the anterior toes 

 more completely united at base than in other types ; 

 ground warblers with the feet relatively stouter 

 than the remainder; worm-eating warblers which 

 are devoid of rictal bristles; and wood warblers 

 par excellence. They are all strictly insectivorous, 

 possess some ability as songsters, particularly in 

 springtime, and are, also, migratory. 



Mniotilta varia, Vieillot. 



This happy and genial Warbler which is known 

 in common parlance as the Black and White 

 Creeper, revisits us during the early part of May, 

 and, doubtless, breeds in our midst; although we 

 have never been able to discover the situation of its 

 nest. In general habits it closely resembles the 

 Certhiida, while its song which is a pleasing yet 

 somewhat monotonous ditty, bespeaks it a posi- 

 tion among the Warblers. 



Its movements whilst feeding, recall the agility 

 of Certhia familiaris. It moves up and down the 

 trunks of trees in a circuitous manner, along their 



