FAMILY MnlotlltldK. 



Black-throated This bird represents an aesthetic combi- 

 e^d^'a bler nation of such ordinary colors as black. 

 ccerulescena blue, and white, the black and whit. 

 L. 5. 20 inches predominating. Upper parts gray-blue 

 May loth \\ith black washings on the back; 



of the head, region of the eye, throat, and sides of the 

 body black; the bases of the primary wing feathers 

 white, forming a conspicuous wing-bar; inner webs of 

 the outer tail feathers with more or less white at their 

 tips; wings and tail edged with blue. Female with a 

 substitution of dull olive green for the blue of the male; 

 the tail with a bluer tinge; the white patches on tail and 

 wings scarcely apparent; region of the eye brown-gray; 

 lower parts pale olive gray on the sides and dull yellow- 

 buff below. Nest usually near the ground, in the un- 

 derbrush of thick woods; it is built of bark, grasses, 

 pine-needles, etc., and lined with fine plant fibres and 

 rootlets; it is never over two feet from the woodland 

 floor. Egg dull pearl or gray white with varied brown 

 markings mostly at the larger end. This Warbler is 

 found throughout North America; it breeds from New 

 England northward to Labrador, and winters in the 

 West Indies and Central America. 



The Black-throated Blue is a bird with a characteristic 

 but not a soul-inspiring song. His is an effort without a 

 tune; a sound comparable to an accidental scraping of 

 the bow over the " cello " strings with the musical tone 

 somewhat decimated. The song is generally described 

 in syllables, thus: zwee-zwee-zwee-e. John Burroughs 

 writes it, " twea-twea-tweaee" and says it goes with an 

 *' upward slide and the peculiar z-ing of summer insects, 

 but not destitute of a certain plaintive cadence. It is 

 one of the most languid, unhurried sounds in all the 

 woods. I feel like reclining upon the dry leaves at 

 once. Audubon says he has never heard his love-song; 

 but this is all the love-song he has." That, for a word 

 description of the music, is about as near the truth as it 

 is possible for one to approach. The song is short and 

 deliberate, and the extremely hi^h tone is dominir 

 a correspondingly low overtone the buzz which Mr. 

 Burroughs likens to the z-ing of an insect. I must imi- 

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