36 Bird Comrades 



sharply accentuated, while his cousin's is more liquid and 

 musical and far less sibilant. My notes represent the 

 Nashville's song phonetically as follows: " Swee, swee, 

 swee, ah-wit-ah-wit-ah-wit," delivered rapidly in a high 

 key and with not a little energy and emphasis. When 

 my notes were made the little lyrist was putting his best 

 foot forward, and was not high in the trees, so that I 

 heard him distinctly. The Tennessee warblers were also 

 singing near at hand, giving me a good opportunity to 

 compare the arias of the two species. 



Belonging to the same subfamily is the orange- 

 crowned warbler. It has not .so marked a preference for 

 trees as its little relatives just mentioned, but likes, so 

 far as my observation goes, to flit about in thickets, where 

 it remains in hiding until driven from its covert or drawn 

 forth by curiosity. Only for a moment does it appear in 

 sight, then plunges into another covert. You will note that 

 its eye-ring is yellow, and that its under parts are neither 

 bright yellow, like the Nashville's, nor white, like the 

 Tennessee's, but greenish yellow obscurely streaked on the 

 chest. I have never heard the song of the orange-crown. 



There are a number of shy warblers that are especially 

 partial to wild, unfrequented^ parts of the woods, where 

 they are seldom disturbed by human intruders. In 

 Kansas I found them in the deep, densely wooded ravines 

 running back from the Missouri River and its tributary 

 valleys. Although these feathered recluses are rarely 

 molested by man, they seem to know enough about his 

 character to look upon him with a suspicious eye when 



