162 NA T URE-STUD Y RE VIE W [16 :4— April, 1920 



insect pests found in orchards near woods, flies, crickets, spiders 

 and earthworms. It sometimes indulges in a Httle seed, and has 

 been known to fly to homes in the woodland, for crumbs. 



You will surely be interested in the family connections and dis- 

 tribution of this interesting bird. It is classed with the group of 

 American Wood Warblers, known as Mniotiltidae, which forms next 

 to the largest family of our native birds. There are about 6o 

 representatiyes of the family in North America, nearly all of them 

 small, abundant, widely distributed, migratory, and insectivorous. 

 Our representative is more distinctly a "ground warbler" and 

 larger than the average. 



In the vicinity of New York City and northward, we are apt to 

 find the Golden-crowned Warblers from early May to September, 

 ■ sometimes in October. During the spring migrations they are 

 numerous from Texas and Florida to Wisconsin. They are seen in 

 Texas in early April and before the middle of May have reached 

 Wisconsin. 



The breeding range reaches over eastern North America north- 

 ward to Hudson Bay and Alaska, west to Kansas (Nettie Blanchan 

 : reports them west to the Pacific Slope) , South to the Ohio Valley 

 and V^irginia, and in the higher regions of the Carolinas. They are 

 said to also breed in the Bahamas. 



During the fall migrations they have been seen in Texas as early 

 as September 20th, remaining until October 25th. Some travel 

 southward to Central America, while others spend the winter in 

 southern Louisiana, southern Florida, and the West Indies. 



Like all warblers, when not nesting, they are seen in parties, and 

 they migrate at night. When crossing large bodies of water, they 

 are often brought in contact with storms with which they are ill- 

 prepared to buffet. During cloudy and foggy nights they lose 

 their bearings, descend from the heights at which they have been 

 migrating, and many blindly strike against lighthouses, fall, and 

 perish in the water. 



There are two song periods, the first beginning in early May and 

 becoming less frequent toward the end of June ; the second occur- 

 ring in August, but transient and irregular. 



You have become familiar with the song that is sung so vehe- 

 mently while the bird rests on a branch, and perhaps you have 

 heard its sharp "chick" or "smack", which is its note of alarm. 

 But until you have listened to its flight song, you cannot fully 



