284 PERCHERS AND SINGERS 



The beauty of this bird far surpasses its minstrelsy, for it 

 is but an indifferent singer. The fact is, however, that it has 

 so much work to do in catching insects it has little time for 

 music; for it will be noticed throughout the bird world that 

 the most diligent insect-catchers are not in the habit of 

 singing over their work. This is due to the same reason 

 that a good deer-hunter does not talk and tell stories while fol- 

 lowing a trail. 



The Yellow Warbler ranges from the Atlantic to the 

 Pacific, and over practically the whole of North America save 

 the arctic barrens, Alaska, and our arid southwestern states. 

 Mrs. Mabel Osgood Wright says: "It is one of the particular 

 victims which the cow blackbird selects to foster its random 

 eggs, but the warbler puts its intelligence effectively to 

 work, and sometimes builds a floor over the unwelcome egg." 

 {Birder aft, p. 95.) 



The Yellow-Breasted Chat 1 is much larger than the 

 typical wood warblers, being 7}{ inches long to their 5 or 5}4 

 inches. It has an olive-green back and a sulphur-yellow 

 breast and throat, with a white line extending from its beak 

 above and around its eye. By these colors, and its erect tail, 

 it may easily be recognized. It is a very pert and saucy bird, 

 and much given to frequenting the haunts of country dwellers. 



The Chat is not a great singer. He has no regular song, 

 and the notes he utters are jerky, erratic and elusive. Its 

 voice has some peculiar quality which renders this bird very 

 difficult to locate by sound alone. Many times I have been 

 completely misled by its call notes coming from a thicket, 



1 Ic-te'ria vi'rens. Length, 7.25 inches. 



