MARYLAND YELLOW-THROAT. 



a streak of whitish ash; upper parts, wings, and tail 

 olive green, slightly tinged with brown; there are no 

 wing-bars nor tail patches; throat and breast bright 

 yellow, lighter at the under parts; sides olive brown. 

 Female similarly marked, but browner on the back, and 

 with the black replaced by a brown-olive tone; yellow 

 of throat also paler. Nest on or near the ground; built 

 of dead leaves, strips of bark, and plant fibre, and lined 

 with finer material of the same nature. Egg white and 

 speckled mostly at the larger end with madder brown 

 and umber. This bird's range is throughout eastern 

 North America west to the Plains, and north to Mani- 

 toba and Labrador. It breeds from southern Georgia 

 northward, and winters from the Gulf States to the 

 tropics. 



The familiar song of the Maryland Yellow-throat 

 scarcely needs description. It is commonly composed 

 of three syllables, rendered in a variety of ways. To 

 wit : Witchery , witchery, witchery I or Which-way-sir ? 

 which-way-sir ? which-way-sir 9 or Wichity, wichity, 

 etc., or Rapity, rapity, etc., or Which-is-it 9 which-is-it f 

 etc. , or What-a-pity, what-a-pity ! etc. , or I-beseech-you, 

 I-beseech-you ! etc., etc. One is at liberty therefore to 

 take his pick of the various sentiments. In any case 

 the rhythm of the bird is remarkably exact and there is 

 no missing the song. After hearing all the Maryland 

 Yellow-throats about Boston and also the White Moun- 

 tain region sing a trisyllabic song, I was delighted to 

 find, one early morning in the Arnold Arboretum, one of 

 Mr. Chapman's New York birds singing the four-sylla- 

 bled 1-beseech-you version, thus: 



forzando 3tirnes 6v ^ , 





p 

 youL-yeu, I be-seeck you, 1 be-seech j/au I be-seech- 



"if ffif ff if 



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