FIRST WEEK] April 87 



wings return, among the first to arrive as they were the 

 last to leave for the South. 



Before the last fox sparrow goes, the hermit thrush 

 comes, and these birds, alike in certain superficialities, but 

 so actually unrelated, for a time seek their food in the 

 same grove. 



The hardier of the warblers pass us in April, stopping 

 a few days before continuing to the northward. We 

 should make haste to identify them and to learn all we 

 can of their notes and habits, not only because of the 

 short stay which most of them make, but on account of 

 the vast assemblage of warbler species already on the 

 move in the Southern States, which soon, in panoply of 

 rainbow hues, will crowd our groves and wear thin the 

 warbler pages of our bird books. 



These April days we are sure to see flocks of myrtle, 

 or yellow-rumped warblers, and yellow palm warblers in 

 their olive-green coats and chestnut caps. The black-and- 

 white creeper will always show himself true to his name 

 a creeping bundle of black and white streaks. When 

 we hear of the parula warbler or of the Cape May 

 warbler we get no idea of the appearance of the bird, 

 but when we know that the black-throated green warblers 

 begin to appear in April, the first good view of one of this 

 species will proclaim him as such. 



We have marked the fox sparrow as being a great 

 scratcher among dead leaves. His habit is continued in 

 the spring by the towhee, or chewink, who uses the same 

 methods, throwing both feet backward simultaneously. 

 The ordinary call note of this bird is a good example of 



