308 YELLOW WARBLER 



ing his noonday meal with his wife and child 

 beside him suddenly from out the blooming 

 shrubbery close by there rings out the loud, cheery 

 ivee-chee, chee-chee, cher-wee of the friendly little 

 yellow bird. What a bright, sunny song it is ! 

 How summery it sounds! The little Warbler 

 sings as he works, and his song seems the natural 

 outpouring of happiness akin to the opening of 

 leaves and flowers until you pass on and his 

 mate starts from her nest in a bush, when you 

 realize that the ecstatic quality of his lay is due 

 to something more than the unfolding of the sea- 

 son. And as you stop to examine the beautiful 

 little home the pretty pair have worked together 

 to prepare for their brood, the songster becomes 

 transformed into a home-maker whose anxieties 

 and happiness seem almost human. 



And the poor little yellow birds have more 

 than their share of anxieties, for they of all birds 

 are chosen for the impositions of the Cowbird. 

 They probably suffer more than many birds under 

 it, too, for instead of accepting their fate calmly, 

 they build a new nest over the old, or rather a 

 second story over the eggs of the intruder. Some- 

 times the shameless Cowbird lays eggs in this 

 second nest, when the undaunted Warblers actu- 

 ally build a third story and start again. 



