190 USEFUL BIRDS. 



discovery. It seemed to me impossible that any one who 

 ever went out into the woods at evening should have missed 

 hearing this characteristic song. But so it is. Some one 

 describes for the first time some common sight or sound of 

 the woods and fields, something well known to all who fre- 

 quent them, something which it seems ought to be known 

 to all the world, and it is received with acclaim as a 

 discovery. Mr. Burroughs has aptly given the Oven-bird 

 the name of calling "Teacher, teacher," but here in Massa- 

 chusetts it exhorts the teacher to teach somewhat as fol- 

 lows : " Teacher, teacher, TEACHER, TEACHER, TEACHER, 

 TEACHER, TEACH." The bird is already becoming known 

 as the " Teacher Bird." Its common alarm notes are a chuck 

 or a sharp chick. 



Its golden crown, its spotted breast, and its manner of 

 walking upon the ground or along a limb, as well as its 

 characteristic song, which is usually uttered when the singer 

 is perched upon a horizontal limb in the woods, will all serve 

 to identify the bird. The lift of the tail, which is charac- 

 teristic of all birds of this genus, and which has given them 

 the name of Wagtails, is more noticeable among the Water- 

 Thrushes than with this species. The Oven-bird is more 

 distinctively a ground Warbler than any other common 

 species except the Water-Thrushes. It feeds very largely 

 from the ground, walking about silently and deliberately, as 

 if in no hurry, and picking up its food from among the fallen 

 leaves ; but when alarmed it usually flies to the trees, among 

 the branches of which the males sing and woo their intended 

 mates. When the female, having young, is started from the 

 nest, she drags herself along over the ground fluttering as if 

 sorely wounded, in an effort to lead her disturber away from 

 her home. Both parents are exceedingly affectionate toward 

 their young, and endeavor to protect them by every means 

 in their power. 



When upon the ground it feeds like Thrushes and To- 

 whees, finding grubs among the leaves, and picking up cat- 

 erpillars or other insects that have dropped from the trees. 

 In this way it finds many caterpillars of the gipsy moth in 

 their hiding places among dead leaves or shrubbery. It 



