366 The Bird 



boy whose whole ideas of hfe have been changed by ab- 

 sence from his rural home, the Oven-bird carries aloft 

 with him the mincing gait of the littoral sandpipers, walk- 

 ing sedately along the limbs among his agile, hopping, 

 creeping cousins. 



Of the conventional aristocracv of the warblers there 

 would l)e much to say had we the space. The Black- 

 and-white Creeping Warbler has been transformed into a 

 woodpecker, as far as mode of progression goes; and 

 lucky for him too, for he never fails to find cocoons 

 and small edible things among the cracks and crevices 

 of the bark, no matter how vainh' the others may be 

 searching the overworked twigs and leaves. And Nature 

 has helped him, too. She has di})ped him in a bath of 

 the essence of these very same crevices and cracks, and 

 out he has come, covered with the semblance of the rough 

 surface and the long, dark shadows which ma}' shield 

 and hide liim from many enemies. 



Of the typical tree-loving species, the Pine Warbler 

 haunts the growths which have given him his name; the 

 Black-throated Green also loves the evergreens, and the 

 beautiful Magnolia delights in thick forests of spruces. 



Thus we have taken a brief surve}' of the I'ecent branch- 

 ing of the warbler's genealogical tree. Each has found 

 a niche in ^\•hi('h to live, and the food and safety which 

 permit him to rear a nestful of young each year. So far 

 so good, but we nuist not forget to give a thought to the 

 imtold thousands and tens of thousands of generations 

 which have failed in their attempts. Nature has removed 

 all traces from ^•iew and in the general advancem.ent of 



