190 BIRDS THROUGH AN OPERA-GLASS. 



z-ie call, and a trill that is heavier than that of 

 the golden warbler. 



LXVI. 



CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER. 



WHEN I first saw the chestnut-sided warbler 

 he was flitting about the upper branches of the 

 saplings in the raspberry patch, about three rods 

 away, and I put down his yellow cap and wing 

 bars as white, and did not even see the chestnut 

 bands along his sides. I noted his pure white 

 breast, however, and his loud, cheerful whee-he- 

 he, so strikingly unlike the ordinary warbler trill 

 or the z-ie tones of some species. The next day, 

 after looking him up and finding what ought to 

 be there, I discovered, by the help of my glasses, 

 what, in fact, seemed little more than a maroon 

 line beside the wings. But in a few days I found 

 another bird whose chestnut sides were as the 

 books would have them, and I felt like shouting 

 Eureka ! 



Though I could not detect the nests that should 

 have been in the saplings bordering the clearing, 

 I found plenty of mother chestnuts leading their 

 broods about. They were among the pleasantest 

 acquaintances of the summer. Such charming lit- 

 tle birds as they are ! 



My first hint of what was going on was the 

 sight of one of the dainty little ladies peering at 



