192 BIRDS THROUGH AN OPERA-GLASS. 



throat. He is often shy and you may follow his 

 voice for a long time and not get a glimpse of 

 the bird, but see him once and you will never for- 

 get the picture. You will find him hopping about 

 either on the ground or near it, for he is truly a 

 ground warbler. 



His back is olive-green, with the chin, throat, 

 and breast rich yellow. The forehead is black, 

 and there is a peculiar, mask-like, oblong black 

 patch on each side of his face that extends from 

 the bill back to the neck, and is separated from 

 the dark part of the head by a strip of ash. The 

 colors of the female are much duller, as she lacks 

 the black patch and the bright yellow. 



If you would see the Maryland yellow-throat 

 at his best, you must invade the dense tangle of 

 an alder swamp, so often the fugitive's last ref- 

 uge, where you can get only mosaic glimpses of 

 blue sky overhead, and cannot distinguish a per- 

 son twenty feet away ; where you must push 

 through the interwoven boughs, picking your 

 steps around bogs, over slippery logs and tree 

 trunks, where luxuriant growths of wild grape- 

 vine, clematis, and the clinging galium beautify 

 the sturdy alders ; where the royal fern, stretch- 

 ing above your waist, flowers in obscurity. 



Here, in this secure cover, our little friend 

 seems to lose his timidity and blossoms out in the 

 full beauty of his nature. We find him singing to 

 himself as he runs over the alder boughs, exam- 



