THE HIGH TIDE OF BIRD LIFE 101 



have sojourned only a few miles south of us, 

 summer residents which should have appeared 

 weeks ago, together with the great host of Ca- 

 nadian and other nesters of the north, appear 

 within a few days' time. 



A backward season brings strangers into close 

 company for a while. A white-throat sings his 

 clear song of the North, and a moment later is 

 answered by an oriole's melody, or the sweet 

 tones of a rose-breasted grosbeak — the latter one 

 of those rarely favoured birds, exquisite in both 

 plumage and song. 



The glories of our May bird life are the wood 

 warblers, and innumerable they must seem to one 

 who is just beginning his studies; indeed, there 

 are over seventy species that find their way into 

 the United States. Many are named from the 

 distribution of colour upon their plumage — the 

 blue-winged yellow, the black-throated blue, chest- 

 nut-sided, bay-breasted, and black poll. Perhaps 

 the two most beautiful — most reflective of bright 

 tropical skies and flowers — are the magnolia and 

 the blackburnian. The first fairly dazzles us with 

 its bluish crown, white and black face, black and 

 olive-green back, white marked wings and tail, 

 yellow throat and rump, and strongly streaked 

 breast. The blackburnian is an exquisite little 

 fellow, marked with white and black, but with the 

 crown several patches on the face, the throat 

 and breast of a rich warm orange that glows 



