WORM-EATING WARBLER. 59 



Black and White Warbler: Mniotilta varia. 



Length about 5% inches. 



Male, finely streaked black and white all over. 



Female, brown where the male is black, breast but faintly 

 striped. 



Resident (abundant) from April I2th to October I5th; win- 

 ters from Florida southward. ' 



The little Black and White Creeper is common in 

 high open woods, where he is always scrambling over 

 tree trunks and branches, hunting spiders and other 

 insects. One may at first think him the Downy 

 Woodpecker, but the Creeper is smaller and his 

 stripes are finer and more uniform. 



This Warbler's ground nest is exquisitely dainty, 

 and so cunningly hidden at the foot of a tree or stump 

 as to be rarely discovered. But if you see a mother- 

 bird with a worm in her mouth and can patiently 

 wait until her suspicions of you are quieted, you may 

 be rewarded by seeing her drop straight to the nest 

 instead of going down at some distance from it and 

 running along, as most ground-building birds do. 

 The eggs, 4 to 5, are white, speckled with brown, 

 chiefly at the larger end. 



The Creeping Warbler has a wiry little voice, not 

 very musical, but it is always a welcome sound, an- 

 nouncing his gentle presence in the neighborhood. 



Worm-eating Warbler: Helmitherus vermivorus. 



Length 5^ inches. 



Upper parts uniform olive-green. 



Under parts buffy-white. 



Four distinct black lines on the buffy head, two passing 

 through the eyes. 



Resident (rather common) from May I to September; win- 

 ters in the tropics. 



The Worm-eating Warbler is found in dense under- 

 growth, especially in that of thickly wooded ravines, 



