116 WILD LIFE AND THE CAMERA. 



such subdued colouring and quiet habits should be 

 practically unknown ? The way I chanced to find 

 them was this : 



While walking slowly through the woods I heard 

 the note of a downy woodpecker. The note was 

 repeated with such frequency that I half suspected 

 a brood of young were starting out on their life of 

 tree-climbing. On the chance of seeing so interest- 

 ing a sight I made my way quietly through the 

 underbrush with which tjie hillside was covered. 

 As I came near to where the woodpeckers kept up 

 their steady calling, my attention was arrested by 

 a lisping note repeated at regular intervals ; that 

 it was the alarm note of a warbler I had no doubt, 

 and I determined to discover which one of that 

 large and varied family it might be. 



The heavy foliage of the trees served well to hide 

 so small a bird from view, and it was some time 

 before I finally detected a worm -eating warbler 

 perched on a branch within a few feet of my head. 

 From his manner, which showed great excitement, 

 I judged that either there was a nest near by or 

 that some youngsters were hiding in the underbrush 

 at no great distance. So, removing my evidently 

 unwelcome presence to a point of vantage, I quietly 

 observed the behaviour of these uncommon birds. 

 After watching for a short time, another bird 

 appeared, evidently the mate of the one I had 

 seen. The two consulted together, and after a few 

 more chirps one began descending, hopping from 

 branch to branch, each time getting nearer to the 

 ground, then suddenly she dropped among the 

 weeds and was hidden from view. 



