Conspicuously Yellow and Orange 
Before and after the nesting season these active birds, pl 
of form, elegant of attire, forceful, but not bold, cutee cae 
pastures near our houses and the shrubbery of old-fas ior 
overgrown gardens, and peer out at the human wanderer th 
with a charming curiosity. The bright eyes of the male m 
ader shine through his black mask, where he intently wat tch 
you from the tangle of syringa and snowball bushes ; lis Pr 
flies into the laburnum with its golden chain of blossoms that pale 
before the yellow of his throat and breast, you are so impressed — 
with his grace and elegance that you follow too audaciously, 
thinks, and off he goes. And yet this is a bird that seems t to de 
light in being pursued. It never goes so far away that you at 
not tempted to follow it, though it be through dense undergre 
and swampy’ thickets, and it always gives you just ¢ 
enough of its beauties and graces before it flies ahead, tod 
the hope of a closer inspection next time. When it dives into th 
deepest part of the tangle, where you can imagine it hunting at 
among the roots and fallen leaves for the larve, caterpillars, sj vi- 
ders, and other insects on which it feeds, it sometimes a = j 
itself with a simple little song between the hunts. But the b 
indifference, you feel sure, arises from preoccupation rather tl 
rudeness. : i = 
If, however, your visit to the undergrowth is unfortun; i I y ; 
timed and there happens to be a bulky nest in process on 
struction on the ground, a quickly repeated, vigorous chit 
quit, impatiently inquires the reason for your bold 
Withdraw discreetly and listen to the love-song that is presentl 
poured out to reassure his plain little maskless mate. Ther me oe 
is delivered with all the force and enekEy of his vigorous naturt Me ot 
and penetrates to a surprising distance. ‘‘ Follow me, ions ng 
follow me,” many people hear him say; others write the 
‘‘Wichity, wichity, wichity, wichity’’; and still others \ 
them, ‘‘/ beseech you, I beseech you, I beseech you,” Toni aaa 
tones of this self-assertive bird rather command than et: 
Mr. Frank Chapman says of the yellowthroats: ‘‘ They s 5 
throughout the summer, and in August add a flight-song to th cir ie 
tepertoire. This is usually uttered toward evening, when thet 
springs several feet into the air, hovers for a second, and t 
drops back to the bushes.” 
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